Ashley Judd Being Discussed As Possible Senate Candidate In '14

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Ashley Judd in A Dog's Way Home
(Image credit: Sony Pictures)

The political scheming never stops. Just two days after many of us headed to the polls to cast our ballots for various candidates, strategists all across the country are already figuring out who to support on election day two years from now. In Kentucky, the most important item on the agenda is Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat. The powerful Republican didn’t exactly crush a pretty weak challenger six years ago; so, Democrats are trying to figure out what high profile candidate could give the Senator a run for his money. From Lt Governor Jerry Abramson to President Obama’s top fundraiser Matthew Barzun, there are a lot of names in play, but one is attracting far more attention than the rest: Ashley Judd.

The Hollywood actress, outspoken Democratic advocate and hardcore Kentucky basketball fan has spoken of her desire to hold office in the past, but she hasn’t yet commented on this specific race. According to The Courier-Journal, however, that silence hasn’t stopped some big names from coaxing her toward the fight. Here’s what US Representative John Yarmuth had to say…

”If you had an Ashley Judd-McConnell race, I think it would be as high profile a race as Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown. The money would pour in here as soon as she entered the race.”

It would be the most high profile Senate race in the country, but that doesn’t mean it’s winnable. McConnell is a powerful man with a war chest that’s already been fully stocked from previous campaigns. Romney carried Kentucky by more than twenty percentage points; so, in order to compete in such a conservative state, Judd would likely need to position herself as a moderate.

This probably won’t be settled in the next few days, but within the next six months, some Democrats are going to need to start raising money. We’ll see if Judd is among them.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.