Hagan to face Dole in U.S. Senate battle

When they face each other in November, it will be the first time in N.C. history, and only the eighth time in U.S. history, that two women have matched up for a U.S. Senate seat

U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan easily outpaced her four rivals in Tuesday's Democratic primary, setting up a historic race against incumbent Republic Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

A state senator from Greensboro, Hagan claimed 60.5 percent of the vote with 92 percent of the precincts reporting.

Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill corporate investment adviser, ranked second among the five Democratic candidates with 17.9 percent of the votes.

Hagan's victory marks the first Senate election in North Carolina history in which both candidates are women. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, there have been only seven other Senate elections in U.S. history where both candidates were women.

A heavy favorite in Tuesday's Republican primary over challenger Pete Di Lauro, Dole noted the historic nature of her own election six years earlier.

"I was honored to be elected as the first female senator in North Carolina history, and I'm looking forward to running on my record of results and becoming the first female senator to get re-elected from our state," said Dole, who claimed nearly 90 percent of the Republican primary vote over Di Lauro, a retired New York City police officer, with 92 percent of the precincts reporting.

Hagan has been a state senator for nearly a decade and was the only Democratic candidate in the primary to buy TV ads. Citing her experience as one of the state legislature's chief budget writers for three terms, Hagan said Tuesday that Dole is vulnerable.

"I think the difference is I have a track record. I am a proven leader in the state of North Carolina," Hagan said.

In Dole she faces a veteran Washington presence. Dole has held Cabinet positions as Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation, and her husband, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, was the Republican presidential candidate in 1996.

The other three Democrats on the Democratic primary ballot Tuesday -- Marcus Williams, a Lumberton lawyer; Duskin Lassiter, a Lexington trucker; and Howard Anthony Staley, a Moncure podiatrist -- had little success luring donors in their campaigns.