November 12, 2008 - 1:35 pm — Likely Democratic — #8
Hagan won this race easily 53 percent to 44 percent.

October 20, 2008 - 4:42 pm — Leans Democratic — #5
Elizabeth Dole has been behind for weeks, and she'll receive no help from the top of the ticket.

October 14, 2008 - 10:15 am — Toss up — #2
A piece by the Salisbury Post attempts to connect the dots and outline just where this race went from easily winnable to extremely competitive for Dole. The piece cites her strong support for the Bush administration, increased Democratic voter registration in North Carolina and the economic bailout as reasons as to why Dole has taken a dive in the polls.

October 10, 2008 - 11:02 am — Toss up — #5
In an interview with Glenn Beck, Dole accused Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) of attempting to "buy North Caorlina" by funding advertisements on behalf of Hagan. "Chuck Schumer is the chairman of the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and so he is sending all of this money in," Dole told Beck, according to The Politico. "Can you imagine having $10 million coming in against you in ugly, mean-spirited ads? So that's taking place, George Soros, moveon.org, you know, altogether it comes to about $10 million."

September 30, 2008 - 12:18 pm — Toss up — #4
WECT 6 is reporting that Hagan has been throwing some proverbial mud at Dole for not spending enough time in her home state campaigning.

"I don't see Libby Dole," Hagan said. "She spends more time at the Watergate in Washington than in Wayne, Watauga, or Wilson counties here in North Carolina."

September 26, 2008 - 11:27 am — Leans Republican — #4
A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling has Hagan up by Dole by a margin of 46 to 41 percent.

September 16, 2008 - 1:04 pm — Leans Republican — #4
As a part of a statewide bus tour, Dole stopped in Port City on Monday to talk about her support offshore drilling, and why hurricane-prone areas should not fear domestic drilling.

September 11, 2008 - 1:46 pm — Leans Republican — #4

A story featured in the Cherokee Scout says that ads released by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee attempting to connect Dole with President Bush have been largely effective - but that the tide could potentially shift.

"Now we'll see whether the attack ads against Hagan, a five-term state senator, have the same effect on whether she can define and defend herself in a winning way," the story states.

September 8, 2008 - 2:48 pm — Leans Republican — #4
At a fundraising dinner in Burlington, Dole told a crowd that should would follow in the footsteps of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and continue to shatter glass ceilings. "I've broken a few glass ceilings along the way, and let me tell you something, Sarah Palin is going to break another one," Dole said, according to the Burlington Times News. "I am really, really excited about her selection ... She is willing to stand up for what she thinks is right."

August 26, 2008 - 11:19 pm — Leans Republican — #4
A recent poll could be seen as an indicator that the tide is turning against Dole. According to the poll of over 900 voters by Public Policy Polling, Hagan is actually polling above Dole by a margin of 42 to 39 percent, with a 3.3 percent margin of error.

August 19, 2008 - 3:13 pm — Leans Republican — #8
MoveOn.org political action announced today that it spent half a million dollars to produce and air a new ad, called "Pocket," in North Carolina. The ad ties Dole, who is in a tough re-election fight, with Republican presidential candidate John McCain, suggesting that both are "in the pocket of big oil," reports CBS News.

August 15, 2008 - 3:42 pm — Leans Republican — #8

CQ Politics has a report where Dole's leads Hagan 46 percent to 41 percent with Libertarian Chris Cole drawing 7 percent and 5 percent undecided in a SurveyUSA poll conducted Aug. 9-11. This is the first time SurveyUSA included Cole in its poll, and it observed: "Hagan is flat, Dole is down."

August 9, 2008 - 2:51 pm — Leans Republican — #8
The Wilson Times reports the Dole campaign is accusing Hagan of being in the pocket of "Chicago union bosses" shortly after meeting with unions that the campaign claims have spent $576,000 on attack ads so far.

August 7, 2008 - 1:48 pm — Likely Republican — #8
Dole's lead over Hagan may be shrinking, according to a poll conducted by Research 2000. As McClatchy's Washington Bureau reports, the poll shows Dole leading Hagan by a margin of 50 percent to 42 percent, with 8 percent of the vote remaining undecided.

August 1, 2008 - 5:47 pm

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will begin running about $400,000 worth of television ads over the weekend, the Raleigh News & Observer notes this afternoon.

In a release a Dole spokesman said, "It must have become obvious that Kay Hagan's liberal agenda is failing to catch on with North Carolina voters so her Washington handlers have hit the panic button and are trying to change the subject with a barrage of negative ads."

The Hagan campaign, which is barred from coordinating with the Washington group, said it knew nothing of the ad buy. But DSCC spokesman Matt Miller said that it should be "Dole that is the one that is scared".

Polls have suggested this race is tightening and The Pindell Report just upgraded the race from #10 to #8.

August 1, 2008 - 5:00 pm

A new Research 2000 poll for DailyKos.com shows Elizabeth Dole's lead still just in the single digits.

Dole led Hagan 50 percent to 42 percent, just a one percent improvement for Dole in the past month.

August 1, 2008 - 9:35 am

Elizabeth Dole will skip the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next month and will spend the week campaigning in North Carolina -- a sign that she's taking Kay Hagan seriously enough that she'd rather do a labor day picnic in Mount Airy than spend time with old friends at a national political convention. Seriously, when's the last time Dole missed a Republican National Convention -- in her universe, the World Series of American Politics?

August 1, 2008 - 9:01 am

RACE UPGRADED FROM #10 TO #8

In recent weeks this race has begun to get tighter and even catch some eyebrow raising national buzz. The movement comes at a time when the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico -- which had occupuied 8th place -- race appears like it is becoming less competitive by the day.

August 1, 2008 - 8:23 am
A Public Policy Polling survey shows this race tightening. In June the survey showed Dole up by 14 percentage points. This month she has just a 9-point lead over Hagan 49 percent to 40 percent with 7 percent undecided.

July 17, 2008 - 1:14 pm

A Survey USA poll released Wednesday shows Elizabeth Dole with a 12 point advantage over Democratic challenger Kay Hagen.

Dole led Hagen 54 percent to 42 percent. The poll was taken July 12-14 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percent. 

July 17, 2008 - 1:08 pm

At the end of the second quarter Elizabeth Dole held a cash on hand advantage of $2.7 million to Kay Hagen's $1.2 million.

But the same day those numbers were released this week, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced they had reserved $6 million worth of television time to help Hagen.

This race is beginning to look like a sleeper, but then again it is Elizabeth Dole and it is North Carolina.