Actor Val Kilmer says he is strongly considering a run for governor of New Mexico in 2011 when term limits force Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson out after 12 years.
Reports that Kilmer is serious about making a bid for his home state’s highest office have been circulating for months.
In November, Kilmer told the New York Post, "There's sort of a rumor around that I'm maybe thinking about running to be governor of New Mexico? Well, it's sort of true. It's been my home for 25 years. I really love my state. Poor, hardworking, decent people — Native Americans, carpenters, artists, expats mixed in with hundreds of the world's smartest physicists at Los Alamos. I've always thought of myself as functioning as a candidate for them.”
At the Huffington Post inaugural party for President Barack Obama Monday, Kilmer again confirmed he is interested in the governorship and said Democratic Party officials have approached him to do so, but he did not name them.
“Actually, they’ve asked me to run for governor,” he tells The Hill. “People seem to want me to.”
Richardson supports Kilmer’s bid to replace him. In September, he told Starpulse.com, "I like the idea. Val Kilmer is a New Mexican, he was Batman. You know there have been successful actors going into politics. I haven't talked to him about it, I don't know how serious he is, but you know if he jumps in a race he's got name ID, so it can't be discounted."
Kilmer’s Hollywood star power would serve him well, as it has in the past for other Tinsel Towners, including President Ronald Reagan, who was governor of California before running for president, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Kilmer is involved with the The Wildlife Center of New Mexico, but he publicly came out in favor of Ralph Nader over fellow Democrat Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.