Could Ashley Judd beat Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014?

The actress and advocate for liberal causes is considering a run for Senate in solidly red Kentucky

Ashley Judd: Hollywood star. Kentucky Wildcats fan. Democratic Senate hopeful?
(Image credit: Lexington Herald-Leader/ZUMA Press/Corbis)

The scuttlebutt started about a month ago: Movie star and political novice Ashley Judd might be considering a run for Senate, probably in Kentucky, and likely against the highest ranking Republican in the upper chamber, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Many people — including Judd's own grandmother — were skeptical, but now Politico's Manu Raju reports that Judd is "seriously exploring a 2014 run for the Senate to take on the powerful Republican leader." She has spoken with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) about the idea, contacted a pollster, and conducted opposition research on herself "to see where she's most vulnerable in the Bluegrass State." In other words, a McConnell-Judd matchup "might not be as far-fetched as you think."

Judd grew up in Kentucky and went to the University of Kentucky (she still attends basketball games there). But these days, Judd lives in Tennessee and Scotland, the native land of husband Dario Franchitti, a three-time Indy 500 winner. Even the actress' grandmother, Polly Judd, says Ashley is "a Hollywood liberal," not exactly an endorsement in solidly red Kentucky. Judd has also never run for elective office before, and McConnell is a bare-knuckled opponent who promises to (figuratively) bloody any Democrat who opposes him.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.