The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

Kay Hagan unseats Republican incumbent Dole in U.S. senate

After months of TV and radio ads, the race for the North Carolina Senate has ended. Kay Hagan (D) has taken the seat of North Carolina’s poster girl Elizabeth Dole (R), a feat that many thought impossible due to her status as one of the best-known figures in the U.S. Senate. “A little over a year ago when I got into this race,” said Hagan during her acceptance speech, “the press, the pundits, other politicians and all were ready to write this race off and hand Elizabeth Dole the keys to her office for another six years.”

For many, Hagan’s victory signals a new era for Southern Democrats.

“It’s amazing to see Hagan win,” said former Guilford student and NC resident Ryan “Big Worm” Jarrell. “Dole’s been there since 2002 doing God-knows-what and to be honest with you I didn’t even think her leaving was an option.”

Dole, like many of her fellow right-wing incumbents during the 2008 election, had to put up a considerable fight against this year’s political climate-which has turned somewhat hostile towards the Republican party in recent months.

Her close affiliation with President Bush may have been a benefit after he was riding high from the events on 9/11, but eventually it became her downfall as the president’s approval ratings plummeted from 2002-2008.

“It’s been a hard-fought campaign,” Dole said in her concession speech. “Historic winds have swept across the political landscape, unsettling allegiances and toppling traditions.”

The campaign turned its nastiest when Hagan filed a lawsuit against Dole for libel. In an effort to appeal to the large born-again Christian population of North Carolina, Dole ran a campaign ad deploring Hagan as being a “godless” woman.

“It was kind of a creepy ad,” said junior Jason Straus. “It asked to viewers if they were comfortable having a ‘woman without god’ being in the Senate and talking about some ‘Godless Americans Fundraiser.'”

In response to Dole’s ad, Hagan ran an ad of her own in which she looked directly at the camera and defended her Christian heritage, explaining how she not only taught Sunday school but was also an elder at her Presbyterian church.

“It was a pretty stupid little scandal, but that’s what most.people get into when they’re watching politics,” said Straus. “A lot of people I know, that’s all they know about Hagan: that stupid libel thing.”

Hagan, 55, will be sworn in as North Carolina’s second female (and first Greensboro native) senator, taking the seat held by Jesse Helms for 30 years and Dole for six.

“I’m interested to see how and what she’s going to do on Senate,” said Jarrell, echoing the sentiments of many N.C. residents. “I think there could be a significant amount of change in store for us in the near future.

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