Heavy/Getty Katy Perry and her mom, Mary Hudson, in 2012
There might be some fireworks over Christmas dinner at Katy Perry‘s household this year. The mom of the pop star and “American Idol” judge, Mary Hudson, has declared her candidacy in a local political race, aiming to represent the Republican Party in Santa Barbara County, according to People.
Perry has previously discussed the differences in opinion she has with her parents, but she’s been able to keep the peace with them by agreeing to disagree. Whether that will change now that her mom, 75, is running for office remains to be seen.
Here’s what you need to know:
Katy Perry Has Been a Vocal Supporter of Democratic Candidates in the Past
In November 2023, the Daily Mail spotted Hudson collecting signatures for the 2024 election, aiming to get her name on the ballot for a spot on the Republican Central Committee of Santa Barbara County.
“We want to get the conservatives in there to make a difference,” she told the outlet, adding that she thinks current members had been “lackadaisical.”
According to People, the Pentecostal pastor got enough signatures, with help from Adam’s Angels founder Adam McKaig, to qualify for the election and get her name on the March 2024 ballot. She filed her candidacy paperwork in late November.
Central committee members promote their party’s platform in the community and supporting their party’s candidates in local elections, per People. If Hudson is elected, she would represent the Santa Barbara County Republican Party.
Perry, meanwhile, performed at President Joe Biden‘s inauguration concert in 2020 and was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
At Clinton’s election night party, before all votes had been tallied, Time reported that Perry told the crowd, “Tonight my parents voted for Trump, but you know what? We will still all be sitting at the same table for Thanksgiving. And this is the moment we need to remember: that we all love our parents, and we all love our children. And I can rest easy knowing that both of my young nieces at home will never see themselves less than equal, anything other than equal.”
“So, remember, today is not just a finish line,” she continued. “It also marks the beginning of all the work we must come together to do. We need everyone—gay, straight, black, white, brown, spray-tanned, people of faith and people that just love. So let’s sing a song of unity. Let’s be one nation indivisible with a kick-ass president.”
In 2017, Perry told Teen Vogue that she felt disheartened after Trump won the election.
“I was really disheartened for a while; it just brought up a lot of trauma for me,” she said. “Misogyny and sexism were in my childhood. I have an issue with suppressive males and not being seen as equal. I felt like a little kid again being faced with a scary, controlling guy.”
Despite Differences, Katy Perry & Her Mom Remain Close
According to Christian News, Perry was not allowed to listen to secular music or watch TV growing up. She began singing as a Contemporary Christian artist at age 15. Her first national album was released in 2001, before she turned to writing and performing pop music and signed a record deal.
Despite misgivings about her upbringing and her political differences with her mom, the two remain close. Perry took her mom along when she performed at King Charles’ May coronation celebration in London. Hudson told the Monticeto Journal that they stayed in a 1,000-year-old castle together for two nights.
“We also got to meet Charles and his sister Princess Anne, and they couldn’t have been more charming,” she said.
The mother-and-daughter duo also supports each others’ charity efforts. Hudson played in Perry’s recent pickleball tournament to raise funds for her Firework Foundation, and the star has donated items for auction to help her mom fundraise for the Arise Conferences she and Perry’s dad, Keith Hudson, hold in multiple cities where they minister to people in need of “transformation.”
Hudson also attended the emotional, final night of Perry’s two-year residency in Las Vegas in early November.
In 2020, Perry reposted an Instagram video featuring her dad as he promoted a shirt he designed to show that no matter what political party a person supports, everyone is still an American.
Perry wrote, “We haven’t always seen (eye-to-eye) but I’m proud of my dad n bro for coming up with this!”