Kay Hagan

Janet Kay Hagan (née Ruthven; May 26, 1953 – October 28, 2019) was an American lawyer, banking executive, and politician who served as a United States senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the North Carolina Senate from 1999 to 2009. By defeating Republican Elizabeth Dole in the 2008 election, she became the first woman to defeat an incumbent woman in a U.S. Senate election. She ran for re-election in 2014 and lost to Republican Thom Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, in a close race. As of 2025, she is the last Democrat to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

Hagan was born Janet Kay Ruthven in Shelby, North Carolina, the daughter of Jeanette (née Chiles), a homemaker, and Josie Perry "Joe" Ruthven, a tire salesman. Her maternal uncle was the Lakeland native and U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.), who later became Governor of Florida following his service in the U.S. Senate. Both Hagan's father and her brother served in the U.S. Navy. She spent most of her childhood in Lakeland, Florida, and graduated from Lakeland Senior High School in 1971.

Leaving the tire business, her father branched out into real estate development, primarily focused on industrial warehouses and warehouse-centered business parks in the Lakeland and Polk County, Florida area. Her father later became mayor of Lakeland.

Hagan also spent summers on her grandparents' farm in Chesterfield, South Carolina, where she helped string tobacco and harvest watermelons. In the 1970s, she was an intern at the Capitol, operating an elevator that carried senators, including her uncle Lawton, to and from the Chamber.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University in 1975 and a Juris Doctor degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 1978, later pursuing a career as both an attorney and banker. While a student at Florida State, Hagan became a member of the Chi Omega sorority, though she later resigned her membership.

Prior to beginning her political career, Hagan worked in the financial industry. During this time she became a vice president of North Carolina's largest bank, NCNB (North Carolina National Bank), which is now a part of Bank of America. Hagan became a county campaign manager for Governor Jim Hunt's gubernatorial campaign.

Hagan was first elected to the North Carolina General Assembly as state Senator for the 32nd district in 1998 (due to redistricting, her constituency later became the 27th district). During the 1998 campaign, her uncle Lawton Chiles walked the district with her. For five terms, she represented Guilford County, including Greensboro.

After Hagan first decided not to run against Elizabeth Dole, the Swing State Project announced on October 26, 2007, that two independent sources had reported that Hagan would, in fact, run. Hagan made her candidacy official on October 30, 2007. She defeated investment banker Jim Neal of Chapel Hill, podiatrist Howard Staley of Chatham County, Lexington truck driver Duskin Lassiter, and Lumberton attorney Marcus Williams in the May 2008 Democratic primary.

She was recruited to the race only after more prominent North Carolina Democrats such as Governor Mike Easley, former Governor Jim Hunt and Congressman Brad Miller all declined to compete against Dole. However, most polling from September onward showed Hagan slightly ahead of Dole, although Hagan had previously fallen behind by as many as 17 points at one point. Hagan was helped by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's aggressive push for North Carolina's 15 electoral votes and by 527 groups lobbying on her behalf. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee expended more money in North Carolina than in any other state during the 2008 election season.

In late October, the Dole campaign released a television ad that stated the leader of the Godless Americans PAC had held "a secret fundraiser in Kay Hagan's honor." The ad showed sound bites of group members espousing their views, then stated Kay Hagan "hid from cameras, took Godless money... what did Hagan promise in return?" It ended with a photo of Hagan and a female voice saying, "There is no God." The ad aired across North Carolina.

Hagan, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro and a former Sunday school teacher, condemned the ad as "fabricated and pathetic," and filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court accusing Dole of defamation and libel. The ad was roundly criticized in local and several national media outlets, including by CNN's Campbell Brown, who said about the ad: "[A]mid all the attack ads on the airwaves competing to out-ugly one another, we think we've found a winner." Following Hagan's victory, the lawsuit was dropped.

In the November election, Hagan won with 53% of the vote to Dole's 44%. The Miami Herald reported that campaign ads on both sides were negative. Hagan's victory was partially attributed to anger over the "Godless" ad. Her victory returned the seat that had once been held by Jesse Helms to the Democrats. Helms had won the seat in 1972, and was succeeded by Dole in 2003.

On February 13, 2009, Hagan voted to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In December 2010, Hagan voted against a bill extending both the Bush tax cuts and unemployment benefits. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 81–19, with opposition from both conservatives and progressives.

On March 23, 2013, Hagan was one of only four Democratic Senators to vote against the Senate's first approved budget in four years.

In May 2013, Hagan voted in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which requires online stores to collect state sales tax in the same fashion as brick-and-mortar stores.

On May 20, 2014, Hagan introduced the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2014 (S. 2363; 113th Congress), a bill related to hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation in the United States, aimed at improving "the public's ability to enjoy the outdoors."

In January 2016, Hagan joined the lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Washington D.C.'s largest lobbying group by revenue.

Hagan's widower, Charles Tilden "Chip" Hagan III, is a transaction lawyer. The Hagans had three children: Jeanette, Tilden, and Carrie. Kay Hagan had a 2012 net worth of approximately $24 million.

After the end of her U.S. Senate term, Hagan became a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.