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Rising in the polls as a 2016 White House contender, Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, is getting a taste of the hard-knocks politics that can accompany an early front-runner.

Mr. Paul, a first-term senator who has captured the fascination of young voters, libertarians and traditional conservatives alike, has suffered some organizational and strategical setbacks even as he shot to the top in a CNN presidential preference poll and was the runaway winner of the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll this month.

SEE ALSO: Bye-bye Iowa straw poll? Gov. Branstad mulls replacing presidential test with festivals

In Kentucky, though, the Democrat-led House is refusing to go along with the Republican-controlled state Senates plan to make it legal for Mr. Paul to seek the presidency at the same time he is running for re-election.

In Iowa, Gov. Terry E. Branstad has wrested control of the state GOP from one of Mr. Pauls loyalists after several tense months, putting a twist on the political landscape of the state that hosts the first presidential primary contest.

Mr. Branstad also is examining whether to end the famed Iowa Straw Poll planned in the college town of Ames for 2015 in which Mr. Paul was expected to fare well after his father, Ron, finished a strong second in 2011. The Iowa governor is thinking instead of substituting candidate-voter festivals in each of Iowas four congressional districts, The Washington Times has learned.

To poll or not to poll

The straw poll has traditionally been an important springboard for non-establishment candidates such as evangelist Pat Robertson, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Mr. Pauls father, who all finished first or second.

The potential 2016 candidates whose strength emanates from outside Washingtons power structure Mr. Paul, and Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas likewise would benefit in fundraising and national exposure from a good showing in the Iowa Straw Poll next year if it is held.

Mr. Branstad has been saying he believes the straw poll has outlived its usefulness, in part because it allows candidates willing to buy admission tickets and pay for buses to secure favorable votes that dont necessarily reflect the states leanings.

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Rand Paul experiences first speed bumps as 2016 front-runner