EMILY'S List Celebrates the Victory of Kay Hagan in North Carolina

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The following is a statement by Ellen R. Malcolm, president and founder of EMILY's List, on the victory of Kay Hagan in North Carolina’s Senate race.

“North Carolina made history tonight by choosing Kay Hagan as their first Democratic woman U.S. Senator. Her grace and poise, even under fire from one of the most scurrilous attacks ads I have ever seen, shows she is the kind of principled leader North Carolina deserves. Her clear vision for the future on issues like health care and the economy will make her an effective advocate for the people of North Carolina and a real leader to change the direction of the country. EMILY’s List is so proud to have helped Jean Shaheen and Kay Hagan become two of only fifteen Democratic women who have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate in their own right, raising their numbers to a new record level.”

Facts on Hagan and EMILY's List in North Carolina

• The election of Hagan marks a big first for women in North Carolina: Kay Hagan is North Carolina’s first Democratic female Senator.
• Overall, EMILY’s List members contributed more than $2.6 million to efforts in North Carolina.
• This cycle, EMILY’s List supported Bev Perdue for Governor and Kay Hagan for Senate.

EMILY's List Political Opportunity Program in North Carolina

EMILY’s List also works to recruit, train, and support pro-choice Democratic women running for state legislative, constitutional, and key local offices through our Political Opportunity Program (POP). In the 2007-2008 cycle, EMILY’s List invested more than $2.3 million in helping women win these offices across the country.

EMILY’s List provides training to pro-choice Democratic women, whether they are thinking of running for office for the first time or are incumbent legislators facing tough challenges. EMILY’s List helps candidates build winning campaigns by providing strategic guidance, from advising candidates as they write a campaign plan to helping them develop a voter outreach strategy, and by making contributions to the campaigns of pro-choice Democratic women running in key, targeted races.

• EMILY’s List held two POP trainings in Raleigh this cycle for women running or thinking of running for office in North Carolina.
• EMILY’s List supported Janet Cowell for State Treasurer and Beth Wood for State Auditor.
• EMILY’s List also helped support the campaigns of Angela Bryant, Tricia Cotham, Barbara Garrity-Blake, Annie Mobley, Alice Underhill, and Jane Whilden to the state House in 2008.
• EMILY’s List supported Julia Boseman, Katie Dorsett, and Eleanor Kinnaird for their campaigns for state Senate in 2008.

EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE!

In the 2007-2008 cycle, EMILY’s List invested nearly $7 million in its WOMEN VOTE! Program. The nation’s largest voter engagement strategy designed specifically for women voters, WOMEN VOTE! seeks to understand and educate women voters around the country and mobilize them on behalf of Democrats up and down the ballot. EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE! reaches out to women voters through telephones, radio, direct mail, the Internet and personal door-to-door contact to motivate them to support Democratic candidates.

WOMEN VOTE! developed a campaign that used radio and the internet to target young voters in North Carolina. After finding that many young people did not feel that Senate, House, or Governor’s races would affect their lives, EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE! Started the “Don’t Stop at the Top!” campaign, focused on why these races are so important. WOMEN VOTE! ran advertisements reminding voters that Barack Obama, Kay Hagan, and Bev Perdue cared about the issues that most affected their lives. Also, WOMEN VOTE! conducted a statewide online campaign targeting young voters with banner ads that emphasized the team of Obama, Hagan, and Perdue, and offered a link to a landing page with information on all three races.

About EMILY's List

In the 2007-2008 cycle, EMILY’s List raised more than $43 million to support its mission of recruiting and supporting women candidates, helping them build strong campaigns, and mobilizing women voters to turn out and vote. EMILY’s List and its members directly contributed more than $9 million to EMILY’s List candidates for federal and gubernatorial office. With more than 100,000 members across the country, EMILY’s List is one of the largest political action committees in the nation. Since its founding in 1985 through today, EMILY’s List has worked to elect 71 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 13 to the U.S. Senate, eight governors, and hundreds of women to the state legislatures, state constitutional offices, and other key local offices.