Entertainment

Sorry, ‘Good Will Hunting’-loving liberals, but Ben Affleck is not running for Senate

Taylor Bigler Entertainment Editor
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Sorry to disappoint every “Good Will Hunting”-loving liberal in Massachusetts (basically 90 percent of the state), but hometown hero Ben Affleck is not running for a U.S. Senate seat. (RELATED: Ben Affleck meets with John Kerry amid rumors of Senate run)

Rumors swirled about a potential Senate run after the actor and director came to Capitol Hill last week to testify before a House committee about violence in the Congo and afterward had a closed-door meeting with Sen. John Kerry.

Kerry has been nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

A CBS Boston reporter wrote last week of Kerry’s potential replacement,”one name I have heard tossed around is that of actor-director Ben Affleck, the pride of Cambridge, who’s been active in Democratic Party politics for more than a decade.”

Alas, “Town”-ies, Affleck shot down rumors that he was running for office on Christmas Eve with a post on his Facebook page.

He wrote, “I love Massachusetts and our political process, but I am not running for office. Right now it’s a privilege to spend my time working with Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), supporting our veterans, drawing attention to the great many who go hungry in the U.S. everyday and using filmmaking to entertain and foster discussion about issues like our relationship to Iran.”

Affleck continued, “We are about to get a great secretary of state, and there are some phenomenal candidates in Massachusetts for his Senate seat. I look forward to an amazing campaign.”

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