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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday that he is running for reelection in 2016. This might come as a surprise to peoplewho assumed he would run for president in that same election year.

These two things, though, are not mutually exclusive.

Sometimes they can be. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), for instance, also faces reelection in 2016 -- but in a swing state. He bowed out of running for president just hours beforePaul made his announcement. Ditto Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who will have a very important decision to make in his own right. Both of these guys would have been hard-pressed to seek both offices.

But Paul's case -- and Kentucky as a state -- is different.

Firstly, it's important to note thatDemocrats held on to the state House this year, which means Paul can't count on his first, best option: the state legislature changing the law to allow him to run for both reelection and for president (not every state prohibits this, but Kentucky does).

As a fallback, the state GOP could look at changing their presidential primary into a caucus. Paul could also sue to overturn the law preventing him from being on the ballot twice. Another option broached by Shane Goldmacher is defeating Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) in 2015 and installing a new Republican secretary of state who might be kinder to Paul's cause.

But Pauldoesn't technicallyneedany of that.

That's because the 2016 Kentucky Senate primary is May 17 -- at least three months after the first presidential primary contests. And given Kentucky is a pretty red state that Democrats might or might not target at the Senate level, Paul has more room to maneuver than Portman or Rubio.

In addition, Kentucky is one of those states that holds governor's races in odd years, and 2015 just happens to be one of those odd years. That means relatively few peoplewill be focusing on the 2016 Senate race until late 2015. The 2010 Senate race that Paul won, for instance, didn't really begin until August 2009, and that was becausethere was an open GOP primary. It seems unlikely Paul would face real opposition in the primary, so he can wait even longer this time.

Paulcould simply run for president for the next year-plus, and if he's not a/the front-runner come January 2016 (or earlier), simplyrevert to his Senate campaign.

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Rand Paul is running for reelection. He will also run for president. Heres how thats possible.