Kentucky GOP chairman sends letter to Dems raising concerns about Ashley Judd as candidate for Senate

photo In this March 13, 2012 file photo, actress Ashley Judd. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, file)

FRANKFORT, Ky. - State GOP Chairman Steve Robertson has sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers raising concerns about actress Ashley Judd as a potential U.S. Senate candidate.

Although Judd is not an announced candidate, the former Kentucky resident now living in Tennessee has been talking to Democratic leaders about challenging Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in his re-election bid next year.

Robertson included an attachment to his letter with comments Judd has made on a wide range of issues that he insists are out of step with the average Kentuckian. Among them were statements opposing coal, the mining of which employs some 15,000 people in the state.

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said today Judd would be "an effective and formidable" challenger to McConnell.

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