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.
Hagan ran for re-election in 2014. The Washington Post considered her seat shaky. The Fiscal Times reported that Hagan benefitted from a presidential election, with its higher voter turnout, in 2008 and that without one in 2014 the race appeared to be a toss-up. Hagan declined to attend ceremonies for President Barack Obama's January 2014 visit to North Carolina, deciding instead to remain in Washington for Senate votes. Pundits questioned whether Hagan was attempting to distance herself from the President, whose popularity in North Carolina had waned significantly after he won narrowly the state in his 2008 presidential bid.
Hagan had been the target of numerous negative ads paid for by Americans for Prosperity, which had spent over $7 million on the race by the end of March 2014. As part of a $3 million offensive effort against those efforts in early 2014, the Senate Majority PAC released ads supporting Hagan. In July 2014, Hagan had the largest cash-on-hand advantage of any vulnerable Democratic senator. She was endorsed by Vice President Joe Biden. In September 2014, Bill Clinton announced plans to campaign for Hagan. Hagan faced Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis and Libertarian Sean Haugh in the general election on Tuesday, November 4. Hagan declined to participate in a scheduled October 21 debate. She was a speaker at the state AFL–CIO convention. After a close race, Kay Hagan lost her bid for re-election by roughly 45,000 votes, or by 1.5%.
Hagan was called on by national Democrats to launch another Senate bid. In an interview in Boston, Hagan said she was seriously considering it. She was said to be the strongest potential challenger against incumbent senator Richard Burr. On June 24, 2015, Hagan announced on Facebook that she would not run for the Senate in 2016.
Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities (chair)
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Economic Policy