Ashley Judd taking a "close look" at Senate bid
Ashley Judd is "taking a close look" at mounting a Senate bid against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the actress and activist said over the weekend.
"The people of Kentucky need a fighter," Judd said Saturday, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. "And certainly going back 10 generations, I've got some fighters from those hills in my family."
Judd was in Washington over the inaugural weekend and was honored at the Kentucky Society's Bluegrass Ball on Saturday for her humanitarian work. Judd, who appeared in movies like "Kiss the Girls" and "Where the Heart Is," has been active in campaigns against violence against women and campaigns to prevent diseases such as malaria. Courier-Journal columnist James Bruggers also notes she's outspoken in her opposition to mountaintop removal mining, setting her apart from most other Kentucky politicians who are allied with the state's mining industry.
McConnell has served in the Senate since 1985, making him the longest-serving senator in the state's history. He's up for re-election in 2014 and has faced pressure from the right to keep pushing for spending cuts during fiscal negotiations with the president. He also told supporters recently he will fight "tooth and nail" to protect gun owners from President Obama's gun control agenda.
Judd told the Courier-Journal she is "overwhelmed" that Kentucky residents are interested in seeing her run, calling it "the greatest honor of my life so far." She added, however, that she had "no time frame" for making her decision.
