There's talk that Judd could run for the Senate in Kentucky. | Barbara Salisbury for POLITICO DSCC not ready to embrace Judd

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is not throwing its weight behind Ashley Judd yet.

On a conference call with reporters Monday, the committee’s executive director, Guy Cecil, described the actress Monday as one in “a handful of quality candidates in Kentucky”


He would not directly deny a report in the Louisville Eccentric Observer that his committee is reevaluating Judd and giving a second look at Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes after a poll conducted for the DSCC found her outperforming Judd against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

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“We think there are actually a handful of quality candidates in Kentucky, that there’s actually a deep bench,” said Cecil. “Quality candidates would include folks like the secretary of state and folks like Ashley Judd.”

Cecil called McConnell “one of the most unpopular senators in the country,” citing a poll that showed 55 percent viewing him unfavorably.

“This race will be a top priority for us,” he said. “We’re going to be focused on making sure that we recruit and that ultimately a candidate runs who can take on Mitch McConnell and ultimately draw a very strong contrast.”

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Grimes, 34, defeated an incumbent Democrat in a 2011 primary and beat a Republican that November with more votes than any other Democrat running statewide. She’s the daughter of a former state party chairman.

Judd does not live in the state and has made a long list of comments that could prove troublesome. On the other hand, she would likely raise a lot of money, and her bid would ensure that this is one of the marquee contests of 2014.

The liberal activist has told key advisers and others that she plans to announce her candidacy around the time of the Kentucky Derby in May, the Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman reported Saturday.

Judd met with Cecil on Feb. 20. On a subsequent trip to Washington, she sat down with DSCC Chairman Michael Bennet, the Colorado senator, and former DSCC chair Patty Murray.

A Grimes spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment. Some speculate that she might wind up running for governor instead in 2015.

Cecil cast doubt on the source of the report that the DSCC might prefer Grimes at the end of its assessment process.

“We don’t spend a lot of time talking to weekly newspapers about our recruitment strategy,” he joked. “Beyond that, we typically don’t talk about our recruitment efforts and we’re going to continue to follow that practice.”