Following Tuesday night’s debate, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) admitted that she missed one of her Armed Services Committee hearings due to a fundraiser.
“You know, there was one,” Hagan said when asked by a reporter after the debate if she had missed any Armed Services Committee hearings due to fundraisers. “And what had happened at that hearing, it was scheduled early in the day. And then votes were scheduled, and that hearing then had to be postponed later that day. So yes, I did miss that one.”
For weeks her Republican challenger state House Speaker Thom Tillis had pressed Hagan on the fact that over the past two years she has missed more than 50 percent of her Armed Services Committee hearings.
Tillis asked Hagan about her Committee absences in the debate Tuesday, but Hagan at the time dodged the question.
The North Carolina Republican Party is already calling the admission that she missed a hearing for a fundraiser — in the midst of the growing ISIS threat and Ebola — a “game-changer.”
And Tills himself slammed Hagan late Tuesday night in a statement for putting “a higher priority on raising money than attending important national security briefings.”
“Even worse, for weeks, Sen. Hagan and her campaign have been attempting to mislead North Carolinians with excuses on why she has skipped over half of her Armed Services Committee hearings,” Tillis added. “North Carolina deserves a U.S. Senator who actually shows up to briefings to put our national security first.”
Tillis and Hagan will meet again to debate on Thursday. Next time, however, they will be joined on stage by Libertarian pizza delivery man Sean Haugh.