About Author
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 reelection in 2014 but lost to Republican Thom Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, in a close race.
As of 2024, she is currently the last Democrat to have represented North Carolina in the U.S Senate.
