Article from The Washington Examiner by Jack Hunter.

When Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced Tuesday that he would be supporting Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson in the New Mexico U.S. Senate race over Republican candidate Mick Rich, many were surprised Paul broke party ranks.

Sure, it is unusual for any member of the two major parties to endorse a candidate in another party over their own. It is also true that this is the first time Paul has ever endorsed a non-GOP candidate.

It is also the first time it has made sense for the senator to do so.

“Paul’s endorsement is sure to add pressure on [Republican New Mexico U.S. Senate candidate] Mick Rich to step aside and give Johnson, the two-term former governor of the state, a clear shot at challenging what until now has been considered a safe Democratic seat,” writes Reason’s Matt Welch. “In the only poll taken since Johnson officially entered the racetwo weeks ago, the Libertarian was up on the Republican 21 percent to 11 percent (versus Phil Heinrich’s 39), and even held a slight edge among registered Republicans.”

Read the entire article at The Washington Examiner.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons