From Staff and A.P. reports

RALEIGH, N.C.—U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan easily beat four opponents in the North Carolina Democratic primary May 6, including a man bidding to become the first openly gay U.S. Senate candidate from a major party.

Hagan, a North Carolina state senator from Greensboro, used her victory speech to critique incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a national political figure with strong name recognition and a multimillion-dollar campaign fund.

“Tonight was another symbol that Washington is broken and that North Carolina families are ready for a change,” Hagan said shortly after she won the race.

Hagan has said she needs about $10 million to unseat Dole—about seven times more money than she has raised thus far. She began solidifying Democratic support by calling on supporters of her chief primary challenger, openly gay Chapel Hill entrepreneur Jim Neal.

“I want to invite them to come on board, and I certainly need their support,” said Hagan, who won 61 percent of the vote compared to Neal’s 18 percent, with 87 percent of precincts reporting.

Neal had galvanized liberal activists in the party, in part through his willingness to candidly discuss he was gay. He repeatedly called Hagan a political insider who offered little contrast to Dole, and argued he was the only candidate with the ability to defeat Dole.

Neal backed off that comment after the primary, saying Dole’s ties to the Bush administration will be a huge liability that could allow Hagan a chance to win. He praised Hagan’s dedication to the race and vowed to do whatever he can to help her win.

“Elizabeth Dole’s in for the race of her life,” Neal said.

The race became the focal point of controversy within the GLBT community, both nationally and in North Carolina, because two D.C.-based groups, the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, refused to endorse Neal. GLBTs in the Tarheel State and around the country called that a betrayal of the community. Although HRC officials said the group doesn’t “generally” endorse in primary elections, HRC endorsed 14 other candidates for the U.S. Senate in primary races around the country this year.

Polls showed the race as a dead heat a few weeks before the election but that was before Hagan received a large infusion of cash for TV ads from the national Democratic Party. She flooded the airwaves with ads, something Neal could not do.

In the aftermath of the race, some North Carolina GLBTs remained bitter about the stance taken by HRC and GLVF.

“There is an imbalance when there cannot be room for supporting progress regardless of outcome in red states,” North Carolina lesbian activist Pam Spaulding wrote in her blog. “This race was so important to the LGBT community here, and no one left downtrodden about the race Jim ran, because we know that we moved the ball forward even without the help from those who say that they speak for us.”

Dole, who was elected in 2002 after serving in two presidential cabinets, easily cruised to a win in the GOP primary.

Three other Democrats ran in the primary. Lumberton attorney Marcus Williams picked up 12 percent of the primary vote, while Lexington truck driver Duskin Lassiter and Moncure podiatrist Howard Staley each had 4 percent.

Hagan, 54, has been a state senator for almost a decade and has served as one of the chamber’s chief budget writers for three terms. She previously worked at NationsBank after earning a law degree at Wake Forest University, but she left the job after the birth of her third child.

Neal was the first Democratic candidate, declaring his willingness to challenge Dole after a series of party leaders declined to get into the race. Even Hagan initially backed away. But three weeks after she decided against running, and not long after Neal disclosed he is gay, she reconsidered and joined the race.

Dole has already set aside about $3.2 million for her re-election bid.