Democratic senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina told reporters Tuesday evening that she did, in fact, not attend one hearing of the Senate Armed Services committee because she had participated in a Democratic fundraiser the same day. The Democrat was speaking to reporters following her debate with her Republican opponent, Thom Tillis:
“There was one,” Hagan said. “And what had happened at that hearing, it was scheduled early in the day. And then votes were scheduled and then that hearing had to be postponed later that day, and yes, I did miss that one.”
The issue has come up in a recent Tillis ad:
“In January, President Obama refers to the Islamic State as a ‘jayvee team.’ Days later, the Armed Services committee holds a hearing on new global threats. Senator Kay Hagan? Absent,” the ad’s voiceover says.
The ad also claims Hagan missed half of Armed Services committee hearings this year, a statement PolitiFact rates as “mostly true.”
One Republican adviser in North Carolina tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD Hagan’s admission is a potential “game changer” in the race. Hagan currently leads Tillis by just under 4 percentage points, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
