U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has officially joined the 2016 presidential contest, telling supporters Tuesday that with their support, he’ll take on Washington and “take our country back.”

Paul is just the second high-profile Republican to jump into what will likely become a crowded Republican primary in 2016.

In his home state of Kentucky, standing behind a podium that read “Defeat the Washington Machine. Unleash the American Dream,” Paul made the announcement in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Louisville.

“Today begins the journey to take back America, to rescue a great country, now adrift. Today, I announce with God’s help, with the help of liberty lovers everywhere, that I am putting myself forward as a candidate for president,” Paul said to a roaring applause.

During his nearly 30-mintue speech to announce his candidacy, he touched on a wide range of issues he has championed as senator.

“We’ve come to take our country back!” Paul said. “We’ve come to take our country back from the special interests that use Washington as their personal piggy bank.”

Paul spoke of shrinking the size of government, balancing the budget, protecting civil liberties, tax reform, a more inclusive Republican party and a message of “economic and personal liberty.”

“We can wake up now and do the right thing — quit spending money we don’t have — or we can stand idly by and watch our once great nation wither and fail,” Paul said. “This message of liberty is for Americans from all walks of life.”

Paul, 52, a libertarian-leaning Republican, has spent his time in the Senate leading fights to protect civil liberties, but has traveled the country looking to broaden the appeal of the Republican Party.

Paul is the son of former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who served 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and ran for president on three different occasions, in 1988 on the Libertarian ticket and in 2008 and 2012 as a Republican.

“It’s kind of in the family’s political DNA,” said Mack Shelley, professor of political science. “His father has been actively pursuing the presidency for quite awhile, so I think it’s kind of natural for him [to run for president].

Paul made headlines in 2013 for a nearly 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor over the use of drones to kill Americans abroad on foreign soil. He also has been an outspoken critic of metadata collection by the NSA, but voted against a bill in the Senate that would have scaled back some of the program, saying reforms did not go far enough.

Paul has made a point to travel to certain areas not usually visited by Republicans to meet with African American leaders, including Ferguson, Mo., the site of riots following the shooting of an unarmed African American teenager. Paul also has met with NAACP leaders and spoken at several historically black colleges.

“He’s taking a little bit of a different path than the other Republican candidates, trying to appeal more to minority voters, which is a bit out of the tea party mainstream for Republicans these days,” Shelley said. “He has some interesting libertarian perspectives. If you close your eyes and don’t know who’s talking, they can even sound like they are coming from a progressive Democrat.”

The younger Paul has embraced some of his fathers staunchly libertarian views, but has also recently distanced himself from some positions, like military spending. While Ron called for a massive reduction in military spending overseas and a lighter role abroad, Paul has recently supported airstrikes against ISIS and offered an amendment to the GOP budget to increase defense spending around $75 billion.

“I think Rand is counting on his father’s charismatic appeal to libertarian voters, and actually to young voters, as well, to help him through rough stops,” Shelley said.

Paul will hit the campaign trail immediately, traveling to early primary and caucus states, including New Hampshire on Wednesday, South Carolina on Thursday and Nevada on Saturday.

Paul will be in Iowa this Friday, appearing at the University of Iowa’s Memorial Union in Iowa City at 10 a.m.

“I am glad to welcome my friend Rand Paul into the 2016 GOP primary,” said U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in a statement. Cruz is the only other Republican to officially announce his candidacy. 

“Rand is a good friend, and we have worked side by side on many issues. I respect his talent, his passion and the work he has done for Kentuckians and Americans in the U.S. Senate,” Cruz added. “His entry into the race will no doubt raise the bar of competition, help make us all stronger and ultimately ensure that the GOP nominee is equipped to beat Hillary Clinton and to take back the White House for Republicans in 2016.”

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is expected to jump in the race next Monday at an event in Miami. More names, both Democrat and Republican, are expected to join the race within the next several months.