GOP presidential hopeful Rand Paul plans Vegas campaign stop Saturday

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, just four days after launching his 2016 White House bid, will visit Las Vegas on Saturday to promote himself as a “new kind of Republican” who’s for more personal freedom and less government intrusion in private lives.

The Kentucky senator will hold a noon rally at the Desert Vista Community Center in Sun City.

Paul is a familiar face in Nevada. He has visited the Silver State at least once already this year, chatting up diners at the Peppermill on the Strip and engaging in retail-style campaigning that’s popular in early voting states.

Paul’s father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was a renowned figure in the libertarian-minded battleground state of Nevada. Although he twice lost the GOP presidential caucus here, he drew large, boisterous crowds, including young and nonpartisan voters. Paul finished second in the 2008 caucus and third in 2012, winning eight Nevada delegates that year.

The younger Paul wants to expand on his father’s base of political support and attract voters beyond his own Republican Party, which he criticized in a speech Tuesday while officially launching his presidential campaign in Louisville, Ky.

“The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped,” Paul told cheering supporters, according to a Reuters report. “Both parties and the entire political system are to blame,” he added, speaking under a banner reading “Defeat the Washington Machine, Unleash the American Dream.”

Paul is the second major presidential candidate to formally announce his White House bid. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on March 23 was the first to formally jump into what is expected to be a crowded contest to become the GOP nominee.

The Kentucky senator plans a four-day campaign blitz, hitting all four early voting states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, which he has said he hopes to win.

People wishing to attend the Paul event on Saturday can get a free ticket by going online at EventBrite. The link is:

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rand-paul-rally-in-nevada-tickets- 16244231935.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj