Hagan gains influence as a team player

RALEIGH -- Few women have risen faster or gone further in the legislature than state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro.

Hagan, a 55-year-old corporate lawyer, was an easy fit on Jones Street -- philosophically in tune with the moderate Democrats who run the state Senate and readily adapting to its horse-trading, deal-making atmosphere.

She is hoping that her 10-year legislative record will help propel her to the U.S. Senate.

"The key to me is we have a great state here," Hagan said. "That is why people are chomping at the bit to move into the state."

But Republicans, including her opponent Sen. Elizabeth Dole, argue that Hagan has been too ready to raise taxes and increase government services, and that she is too closely tied to the entrenched Democratic leadership in the state Senate to be an independent voice.

No matter how her rise is viewed, her record in the state legislature suggests that Hagan would be a pro-business Democrat, liberal on social issues, willing to be a loyal team player with the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate and focused on constituent issues and bringing home the bacon.

Gaining influence

Over a decade, Hagan rose from being a back bencher to helping write the state's $21 billion budget. She was rated the seventh-most influential member of the 50-member Senate this past session, according to a survey of lawmakers, lobbyists and journalists by the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Public Policy.

Hagan is a protege of Senate leader Marc Basnight, the powerful Manteo Democrat who recruited her to run for the state Senate, helped finance her early campaigns and made her co-chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

In return, Hagan was a loyal member of the Democratic Senate team, headed by Basnight and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand of Fayetteville.

"Marc Basnight is the visionary," Hagan said. "Tony Rand is the chess player."

Because Hagan has been a cog in the Basnight organization, it is often difficult to separate out her record from that of the Senate leadership. She was part of an effort that raised teacher salaries, increased funding for the state's university system, created a new cancer research center and funded new efforts to improve secondary and elementary schools.

Hagan has an intense, Type-A personality that has made her a tough negotiator and a behind-the-scenes workhorse.

"She has boundless, boundless energy," Rand said. "Once she ties into something, she is after it full time."

Democratic Rep. Paul Luebke of Durham, a chairman of the House finance committee, says Hagan's determination "sometimes comes across as 'my way or the highway.' "

But Republican Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County says: "You can disagree agreeably with Kay."

Like a lot of Southern Democrats, Hagan tries to perform a delicate ideological balancing act. She voted for a state lottery (reluctantly), for a death penalty moratorium (although she backs the death penalty) and against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages (although she favors the existing ban in state law).

Eye toward business

Hagan has been sensitive to local business interests. When Democratic Gov. Mike Easley proposed raising the cigarette tax from 5 cents a pack to 45 cents a pack in 2005, Hagan used her influence to peel the increase back to 35 cents a pack. Lorillard Tobacco is a major employer in her district.

She also is known for bringing home the bacon, which has helped make her a favorite of the Greensboro business community -- $1.5 million for an International Civil Rights Museum; $500,000 for Greensboro's Center City Park; $500,000 for the International Furnishings Market in High Point; and $10 million for a joint Millennium campus being developed by UNC-Greensboro and N.C. A&T State University.