Ashley Judd won’t run for Senate

Actress Ashley Judd is not running for Senate in Kentucky, she announced on her Twitter feed Wednesday afternoon.

{mosads}”After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate,” she tweeted.

Judd had been making preparations for a run, meeting with Washington and Kentucky Democrats in the months prior to discuss a potential challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

She had previously told Kentucky Democrats she planned to make a decision by May. But while some Washington Democrats privately expressed enthusiasm for her potential candidacy, touting her deep pockets and prominent profile, Kentucky Democrats have been less enthused.

Many expressed concern that her outspoken support for President Obama and controversial comments — particularly on mountaintop removal coal mining, which is widespread in Eastern Kentucky — would have undermined her appeal to voters in a state that Obama lost by double-digits in 2012.

Attention will now turn to Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is considering a run but has not yet made a bid official.