Ashley Judd Senate Bid Ends As Movie Star Opts Out Of Kentucky Race Against Republican Mitch McConnell
Kentucky-born actress Ashley Judd's next role will not involve running for senator against Republican Mitch McConnell in her home state after the actress posted on her twitter Wednesday that she would be withdrawing from the race.
After months mulling her candidacy, Judd, 44, tweeted that she would not take on Senate minor leader McConnell through a short statement.
"Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate," she wrote. "I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader.
"While that won't be me at this time, I will continue to work as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people & their needs, dreams, and great potential."
The actress then thanked her fellow Kentuckians for considering her for the posts and ended her remarks by professing her love for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Judd, who has starred in such dramatic films as Kiss the Girls and A Time To Kill, is known for her liberal beliefs and would have been facing a Republican incumbent in a state which is largely defined by a staunchly conservative population.
Republicans currently boast both Kentucky senate seats as well as five of the six seats assigned to the House of Representatives.
Although a native of the state, Judd actually lives in neighboring Tennessee, a fact which McConnell and his re-election campaign team had already included in a critical campaign advertisement. Judd would have been required to move to Kentucky to qualify as a senate candidate.
In addition to her withdrawal from the senate race, Judd's last few months have been made difficult due to the dissolution of her marriage to Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula 1 star racer Dario Franchitti. The couple's divorce, which was said to be an amicable split, came in January.
In a shocking memoir released in 2011, Judd revealed that her childhood years were filled with lies, pain, drugs and sexual abuse. The daughter of country legend Naomi Judd, Ashley's book aimed to rectify what she saw as inaccuracies perpetuated by her family.
