NORTH CAROLINA
      Nov. 4, 2014 U.S. Senate                                      

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+Thom Tillis (R)
1,423,259
 		48.82%
Kay Hagan (D)
 		1,377,651
 		47.26%
Sean Haugh (L)
 109,100
 3.74%
write-ins
 5,271
 		0.18%

2,915,281
Registered voters: 6,627,862.  Ballots cast: 2.939,767.
Plurality: 45,608 votes (1.56 percentage points).
NC State Board of Elections



REPUBLICAN PICK-UP
Notes:  Speaker of the General Assembly Thom Tilllis (R) defeated freshman Sen. Kay Hagan (D) in a squeaker.  Also on the ballot was Sean Haugh (L).  Hagan was one of many vulnerable Democrats targeted by national Republicans.  Although her challenge was not as steep as that faced by six of her colleagues running in states where Mitt Romney had won by double digits, this was a purple state which sure to see a tough campaign.  In 2012 Romney carried the Tarheel State by 2.04 percentage points.

In the June 6 Republican primary, Tillis needed to exceed 40-percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.  He obtained 45.68%, defeating Tea Party favorite Dr. Greg Brannon, an ob-gyn (27.15%), Baptist pastor Mark Harris (17.55%) and five other candidates.

Hagan and Tillis participated in two debates at UNC-TV studios sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters: on Sept. 3 (>) and Oct. 7 (>).  On Oct. 9 Hagan, Tillis and Haugh debated at WECT-TV studios in Wilmington.  Hagan had made it very clear that she would not participate in, and Haugh did not qualify for, a debate scheduled for Oct. 21 at Time Warner Cable News studios in Raleigh; Tillis fielded questions for the hour next to an empty chair.

North Carolinians endured an intense TV ad war, including a flood of attack ads; the Center for Public Integrity reported that from Oct. 14 to Oct. 20 more than 10,800 U.S. Senate ads with some negative content ran or "more than one negative TV ad every minute (>)."

 According to the Center for Responsive Politics, this was the most expensive Senate race of the cycle; spending by the two campaigns and outside groups totaled $121.3 million (1, 2).  The Hagan campaign spent $24.9 million and the Tillis campaign $10.5 million, while outside spending for and against the two totaled $85.5 million.  Nineteen groups spent more than $1 million on the race.  The top three on the Democratic side were the DSCC ($15 million), Senate Majority PAC ($13.2 million) and LCV ($5.1 million), and on the Republican side, the NRSC ($9.4 million), U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($5.6 million) and Crossroads GPS ($4.9 million).



Campaign Managers:
Thom Tillis  Jordan Shaw
(Oct. 2013)  Communications director to Speaker Tillis in the North Carolina General Assembly, Dec. 2010-Oct. 2013.  Communications director for the North Carolina Republican Party, Aug. 2009-Nov. 2010.  RNC regional Victory director for Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Aug.-Nov. 2008.  Communications and legislative staff in the Virginia House of Delegates, Dec. 2006-June 2008.  Campaign manager on Carrico for Delegate (Roanoke), May-Nov. 2007.  Campaign manager on Carrico for Congress (Roanoke), Jan.-Nov. 2006.  Deputy field director in Roanoke on Kilgore for Governor, Aug.-Nov. 2005.  B.A. in political science from Virginia Tech, 2005.

 Kay Hagan  Preston Elliott
Campaign manager on Sen. Jon Tester's 2012 re-election campaign.  Nevada Coordinated Campaign director in 2010, helping to re-elect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Deputy political director at the DSCC in 2008.  Worked as a field director on Montana Democrats' Coordinated Campaign in 2006; former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles' 2004 U.S. Senate race; organier on Rep. Dick Gephardt's Iowa caucus campaign; Sen. Tim Johnson (SD)'s 2002 re-election campaign; and an Illinois legislative race in 2000.  Graduate of Lake Forest College.  Grew up in Billings, Montana.

 
See also:
Alexis Levinson.  "How Thom Tillis Defeated One of 2014's Best Campaigns."  Roll Call, Nov. 13, 2014.

Noah J. Gordon.  "16 Questions: The North Carolina Senate Race." The Atlantic, Oct. 27, 2014.

Dave Weigel.  "Meet the Libertarian Who May Swing the Senate." Bloomberg, Oct. 7, 2014.
 
Tarini Parti.  "How Kay Hagan stayed afloat."  Politico, Oct. 3, 2014.


Iowa State University - Archives of Women's Political Communication: Kay Hagan.




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