[2] On February 13, 2013, Paul delivered the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address,[3] prompting some pundits to consider him a potential candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

[5] Following his filibuster, Paul spoke at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C.,[6] where he won the presidential straw poll with 25% of the votes cast.

[8][9] The day after his speech, he won the presidential straw poll for the second year in a row with 31% of the votes cast, nearly triple the percentage of runner-up U.S.

[10][11] In April 2014, Paul spoke at the GOP Freedom Summit, an event organized by Americans for Prosperity and Citizens United,[12] which was also attended by several other potential presidential candidates.

Senators Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand to improve the criminal justice system for young men and women in a "cycle of poverty and incarceration".

[33][34] In addition to his own political prospects, in the lead up to the 2014 midterm elections, Paul made a point to campaign for several Senate and Congressional candidates, including Joni Ernst and Rod Blum in Iowa, former U.S.

Senator Scott Brown in New Hampshire, David Perdue in Georgia, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Mitch McConnell in Kentucky and Pat Roberts in Kansas.

[41] Through his political action committee, known as Reinventing A New Direction (RAND) PAC, Paul toured many states seen as important in gathering both votes and fundraising dollars.

[42] After former governor Mitt Romney announced that he would not seek a third presidential bid, political analyst Mark Halperin made a statement that he thought that Paul was the new frontrunner in the New Hampshire primary if it were to be held then.

[43] Polling throughout 2014, both nationally and in statewide contests, had consistently placed Paul among the top tier of candidates potentially seeking the Republican Party's nomination in the 2016 presidential election.

[44] Several political analysts pointed to the established network of supporters that his father, Ron Paul, had garnered through his own attempts at running for President of the United States in the 2008 and 2012 elections.

[45] At the same time, other analysts stated that Ron Paul may have been more of a liability, due to his consistent opposition to foreign involvement, which may not have appealed to mainstream Republican voters.

[54] Paul also spoke outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and participated in a discussion at the National Constitution Center before returning to Washington, D.C., in order to tend to business in the United States Senate.

[55] The week before Memorial Day, he announced his intention to block any attempt at renewing the Patriot Act, in which certain provisions regarding warrantless surveillance of Americans were set to expire at the end of the month.

[57] Following his filibuster, the Senate attempted to move forward with the legislation, holding a series of votes shortly after midnight on the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend, which failed to get the 3/5 supermajority needed to invoke cloture.

[58][59] Paul objected to all further attempts to extend the Patriot Act's provisions which had been put forth by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (requiring unanimous consent), causing them to delay debate of the legislation until the following week.

Today I am announcing, with God's help and with liberty lovers everywhere, that I am putting myself forward as a candidate for President of the United States.

"[62] Within a day of his announcement, Paul raised $1 million, slightly outpacing fellow Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz.

[65] After announcing his campaign in Louisville, Kentucky, Paul embarked on a tour of four early states, which included stops in Milford, New Hampshire, Mt.

Whereas candidates like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were regularly appearing in the news, CNN noted Paul "has been working the campaign trail quietly, taking a deliberate approach to national media and choosing his battles carefully."

[73] At the Fox News Cleveland debate, in response to Chris Christie opposing his stance on unwarranted wiretapping which the governor was in favor of, Paul mentioned his previous attempts at ending searches without warrants of Americans' records.

Some commentators believed Christie had succeeded in defending himself, though Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic viewed Paul as having won based on substance alone.

[81] According to online fundraising data from the first several weeks of Paul's campaign, a majority of donations came from small dollar contributions, as well as from rural cities and towns.

In March 2015, Paul came in second in the straw poll held by Georgia's Association of Republican County Chairmen, only behind Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

[98] After finishing fifth place in the Iowa Caucus with 4.5% of the vote and inadequate funding, Paul dropped out of the race on February 3, 2016, to focus on his re-election to the Senate.

[100] The policy positions taken by Paul in the lead-up to 2016 included NSA reform, cooperation with Iran, reducing the budget deficit and decriminalizing marijuana.