PADUCAH — U.S. Senator Rand Paul said he is pleased with his father's performance in the Iowa straw poll over the weekend.

Paul traveled to western Kentucky to find out how he can help local county leaders in Washington.

Just before that meeting the Republican sat down with Local 6 to talk about his father and presidential candidate Ron Paul.

There were a lot of eyes watching the poll, including Paul's family.

Some say the Iowa straw poll is the first step toward the White House for Republicans. It seems like Ron Paul is off to a good start.

He was one of six Republican presidential hopefuls personally appealing for Iowa's votes on Saturday.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann won the Ames straw poll with 4,823 votes.

Texas Representative Ron Paul came in second with 4,671 votes.

His campaign chairman said the numbers show Paul is a top-tier candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Senator Rand Paul agreed, saying a statistical tie between his father and Bachmann means people shouldn't count either one out.

"People want to downplay it and say it doesn't mean much because it's a straw poll but at the same time, presidential candidate's whole futures can be determined by the fact that Tim Pawlenty dropped out so that shows it must be fairly important."

Paul said he supports his dad but it will be interesting to see where things will go from here.

We still have four or five months before the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.

There is a lot of momentum that comes along with the straw poll.

The Iowa staw poll results have no effect on the presidential primaries but the poll is frequently considered as a first test of strength by news media and Republican Party insiders.