Kay Hagan

Kay Hagan
United States Senator
from North Carolina
In office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byElizabeth Dole
Succeeded byThom Tillis
Member of the North Carolina Senate
In office
January 27, 1999 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byJohn Blust
Succeeded byDon Vaughan
Constituency32nd district (1999–2003)
27th district (2003–2009)
Personal details
Born
Janet Kay Ruthven

(1953-05-26)May 26, 1953
Shelby, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedOctober 28, 2019(2019-10-28) (aged 66)
Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Resting placeFirst Presbyterian Church of Greensboro
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseCharles T. Hagan III
RelativesLawton Chiles (uncle)
EducationFlorida State University (BA)
Wake Forest University (JD)

Janet Kay Hagan[1] (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.[2] 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 reelection in 2014 but lost to Republican Thom Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, in a close race.[3]

As of 2024, she is currently the last Democrat to have represented North Carolina in the U.S Senate.

  1. ^ "Kay Hagan Obituary - Greensboro, NC". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  2. ^ "10 Things You Didn't Know About Kay Hagan". U.S. News & World Report. November 4, 2008.
  3. ^ "Tillis declared winner in NC Senate race". Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.