First it was just a rumor, but now things seem to be getting more serious.
Ashley Judd, the movie star who is considered to be the most notable Kentucky Wildcats fan in the nation, is seriously thinking about making a run at the U.S. Senate in the next few years, according to report from Politico.
The Politico report says that Judd has spoken with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) about running and that she has also consulted with Democratic pollsters and started opposition research, according to "four people familiar with the matter."
Judd's name first started to come up after Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky) brought the idea out in the open. According to USA Today, he said: Judd is "doing all the things that a serious candidate exploring a race should do."
Judd released a statement last month addressing the rumors, saying:
"I cherish Kentucky, heart and soul, and while I'm very honored by the consideration, we have just finished an election, so let's focus on coming together to keep moving America's families, and especially our kids, forward," Judd said, according to the Huffington Post.
Judd is one of the most famous sports fans in the country and has been a prominent supporter of the Kentucky Wildcats for many years.
Judd can frequently be seen in the stands at games and participated in the celebration of Kentucky's 1998 national championship and cheered on the team when they defeated Kansas last season to win their first title under coach John Calipari.
Originally born in California, Judd grew up in Ashland and attended the University of Kentucky, where she received a degree in French. She also did graduate work at the Harvard where she received a Mid-Career Master in Public Administration degree in 2010.
Judd has deep roots in Kentucky and can date back her family eight generations in the state. She has starred in numbers projects on film and television in her career, including "Kiss the Girls," "Double Jeopardy," "High Crimes" and the television series "Missing."
She is married to IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, who has won the Indianapolis 500 three times
Judd has been involved in political activities and humanitarian work for many years, including being a global ambassador for YouthAIDS and traveling around the world to help children in countries in Africa
She also supported President Barack Obama for re-election and has been involved in work with numerous women's rights groups, including the Women for Women International, and Equality Now.
"I'm voting for Barack Obama because he embodies American values and because he has a policy and vision that actually works for regenerating our middle class and growing it from the middle class out instead of from the top down and proposing the same failed policies that got us into economic collapse in the first place," Judd said in an interview with the Daily Beast before the election.
According to USA Today, Judd "was a Tennessee delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. She even announced the state's votes for President Obama in Charlotte as the president was formally nominated as the party's standard bearer."
Judd's options for Congress would be to run against Mitch McConnell, who is one of 13 Republicans up for re-election in 2014, or wait until 2016 to take on Rand Paul, who is the freshman Senator for the state.
If Judd did run, it would be a huge boost for Democrats that are looking to get McConnell out of the Senate. As the minority leader, McConnell has held up nearly every bill and issue the Democrats have tried to pass and has been a barrier for President Obama's most important pieces of legislation.
Some politicians have already started to weigh in on the idea, although Judd has made nothing official yet.
"She's way damn too liberal for our country, for our state," Sen. Rand Paul said to the radio station WMAL. "She hates our biggest industry, which is coal. I say, good luck bringing the 'I hate coal' message to Kentucky."
Democrats have been weary to challenge McConnell in recent years because he is very popular in the state. He is Kentucky's longest-serving senator and won re-election in 2008 for a fifth term in Congress.
While Judd currently lives in Tennessee, she would likely move back to Kentucky to re-establish residence if she wants to run for the Senate seat. She also resides part of the year in Scotland.
"I heard she lives in Scotland, I thought she was running for Parliament," Paul said. "I think she'd fit right in the English parliament. ... She's got to get back and forth between Scotland to campaign, and they don't have the Concorde anymore."
Judd has a well-known family of country singers, including her mother Naomi Judd and her half-sister Wynonna. Her grandmother also made some comments about the idea of Judd running for Congress.
"I don't think there's any possibility of that happening," said Polly Judd, the 85-year-old grandmother of Ashley and her singer sister, Wynonna, according to the Associated Press. "I think Mitch has done more for Ashland than anybody else who has been in there. That means a lot. He's been here personally, and we don't always get that from politicians who represent us."
If Judd did decide to throw her hat in the race, it would not be the first time someone from Hollywood tried to get into politics. Former SNL writer Al Franken was elected to the Senate in Minnesota in the 2008 election after defeating incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman.
"She's a Hollywood liberal," Polly Judd said of her granddaughter. "It would be interesting to see what type of race she would run."
