Rand Paul suggests he could win 33 percent of the black vote

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last updated 8 January 2015

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), widely presumed to be considering a 2016 presidential run, claims that the the GOP could easily improve its dismal reputation among black voters, going so far as to claim that the right ticket — presumably led by Paul himself — would win 33 percent of the black vote.

Sen. Rand Paul tells Politico that the Republican presidential candidate in 2016 could capture one-third or more of the African-American vote by pushing criminal-justice reform, school choice, and economic empowerment.

"If Republicans have a clue and do this and go out and ask every African-American for their vote, I think we can transform an election in one cycle," the Kentucky Republican said in a phone interview Thursday as he was driven through New Hampshire in a rental car. [Politico]

There is certainly lots of room for improvement. In 2012, Mitt Romney won 6 percent of the African American vote.