Poll: Ashley Judd top Dem choice in Senate race

Catalina Camia, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Kentucky Democrats have spoken: Ashley Judd is their top choice to face Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in 2014.

The actress was the Senate candidate of choice for 29% of Democratic primary voters in a new Public Policy Polling survey, easily beating out such experienced politicians as Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson and Attorney General Jack Conway.

Abramson, the former long-time mayor of Louisville, received 16% support followed by Conway, the Democratic nominee for Senate in 2010, with 15%.

Judd is reportedly seriously considering running for the Senate, according to a Politico report, and has talked to a pollster among other steps.She attended the University of Kentucky, but now lives in Tennessee.

McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton has warned that the Kentucky Republican will be ready to aggressively push back on any and all comers. The PPP poll showed McConnell would lead Abramson, Conway and Judd, even though the Republican has a low approval rating among Kentucky voters. (McConnell is rated favorably by 37% of Kentucky voters compared to 55% who view him unfavorably.)

McConnell's campaign team dismissed the poll's methodology on Twitter, noting that it relies on automated calls. The Senate minority leader's team also tweeted that a poll in the Courier-Journal newspaper showed McConnell with a 51% approval rating.

Public Policy Polling, which is a Democratic-leaning firm, surveyed 1,266 Kentucky voters -- including 585 Democratic primary voters -- Friday through Sunday. The margin of error for the Democratic questions was +/- 4.1 percentage points. The poll's overall margin of error is +/- 2.8 points.