Hagan, Kay, 1953-2019

<p>A moderate Democrat who hailed from a political family with long roots in the United States Senate, Kay R. Hagan won election as North Carolina’s junior Senator in 2008 by defeating a nationally known incumbent. Hagan brought to the office a decade of experience in the state senate and a deep knowledge of the banking industry. When she arrived on Capitol Hill, she sought to mitigate the effects of the 2008 financial crisis and the onset of an economic recession.</p>

<p>Kay Hagan was born Kay Ruthven on May 26, 1953, in Shelby, North Carolina, to Joe Ruthven and Jeanette Chiles Ruthven. The family relocated to Lakeland, Florida, where her father ran a tire sales business and sold real estate, and later served as mayor of Lakeland. Her mother was a homemaker and the sister of Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr., who represented Florida for 18 years in the U.S. Senate (1971–1989) before winning election as the state’s governor in 1990. Hagan spent six months interning in her uncle’s office in the 1970s. She also helped on his various campaigns.</p>

<p>Hagan earned a BA in American Studies from Florida State University in 1975, and three years later graduated with a JD from Wake Forest University. In law school, she met her future husband Charles (Chip) Hagan. They settled in his hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina, where they raised three children: Tilden, Jeanette, and Carrie. Kay Hagan went into law practice, working in the trust division of North Carolina National Bank (later acquired by Bank of America). She eventually became a vice president at the bank.</p>

<p>Kay Ruthven Hagan (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.</p>

<p>Hagan was born Janet Kay Ruthven in Shelby, North Carolina, the daughter of Jeanette (née Chiles), a homemaker, and Josie Perry "Joe" Ruthven, a tire salesman. Her uncle (mother's brother) was the Lakeland native and U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.), who later became Florida Governor following his service in the U.S. Senate. Both Hagan's father and her brother served in the U.S. Navy. She spent most of her childhood in Lakeland, Florida, and graduated from Lakeland Senior High School in 1971.</p>

<p>Leaving the tire business, her father branched out into real estate development, primarily focused on industrial warehouses and warehouse-centered business parks in the Lakeland and Polk County, Florida area. Her father later became mayor of Lakeland.</p>