GOP eyes Hagan's Senate seat

The race for Sen. Kay Hagan’s seat in Congress has just begun — the primary election is in May 2014 — but Republicans hoping to take her place are already mobilizing support.

N.C. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) announced last week he would run for Hagan’s seat, and a super PAC endorsing his campaign has formed.

Tillis and Tea Party candidate Greg Brannon are the only confirmed GOP hopefuls — but a long list of Republicans have said they might run.

Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning firm in Raleigh, said it is rare to see so many potential candidates for a Senate seat.

Matt Canter, spokesman for the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the number of candidates could pose a problem for Republicans.

“There’s a potential for a volatile primary there on the Republican side,” Canter said.

He said a long and divisive primary contest would likely result in the emergence of a far-right GOP candidate.

“That tends to produce a nominee who is too extreme for the mainstream voters in the state,” he said.

But Brook Hougesen, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Democrats should be concerned about the extreme views of their candidate.

“Voters are looking for someone who will … serve as a check on President Obama’s extreme agenda — an agenda that Kay Hagan supports more than 93 percent of the time,” she said in an email.

She said the organization would be on the attack in all Senate races, but would start with contests in red states.

“It takes twice as much energy to be on defense as it does on offense,” she said. “We are going to be dedicated to offense, and that starts in the seven red states.”

Of the 21 Senate seats held by Democrats up for a vote this cycle, seven — including Hagan’s — are in states that 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won in last year’s election.

Republicans will defend 14 seats, but only one is in a blue state.

A recent poll by Public Policy Polling on the Senate race in the state found Hagan leads all challengers included in the poll except N.C. Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry.

But Berry, who tied with Hagan at 45 percent, said after the poll was published that she will not run.

In comparing the matchups, Jensen said he thinks Democrats would love to see a race pitting Hagan against Tillis or N.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger.

“(Tillis and Berger are) associated with such a large number of things in the legislature that are very unpopular,” Jensen said.

Hougesen said the N.C. race is a top priority for the Republican senatorial committee. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also prioritized N.C. in 2008 to get Hagan elected.

The committee contributed more money to Hagan’s campaign than it did for any other candidate nationwide.

Canter said the N.C. contest is a top priority for the committee this election as well.

Jensen said with all the interest in the N.C. contest, it will likely be the most expensive Senate race in state history. But he said the outcome of the race will largely be out of the candidates’ control.

“It’s not going to be about Kay Hagan. It’s not going to be about her Republican opponent,” he said.

“It’s going to be about the national political climate.”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.