Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Born in Shelby, Kay’s commitment to public service started at an early age when she helped campaign for her uncle, former Governor and Senator Lawton Chiles. Kay met her husband Chip in law school at Wake Forest, and after her third child was born, Kay left her job at a bank to focus on being a full-time mom. She and her husband raised their kids in Greensboro, and Kay was active in the community, including serving as the Guilford County manager for Governor Hunt’s 1992 and 1996 gubernatorial campaigns.

Kay was elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1998 as a businesswoman and mother who believed that Raleigh needed a voice like hers. During her five terms, she has proven to be an effective leader who bridges partisan divides and always put people before politics. She has earned a reputation as a no-nonsense legislator who knows good ideas do not come with a party label.

Serving as Co-Chair of the Budget Committee during her last three terms, Kay has put a premium on accountability and has no tolerance for wasteful spending. She has consistently turned out balanced budgets by making tough decisions, and she has ensured that North Carolina continues to invest in quality schools, job training, and middle class tax cuts. Kay led the effort to increase coverage for children and she supported North Carolina’s efforts to pay for handheld radios and military vehicle body armor to keep our Guardsmen safe. Kay has provided the leadership to increase teacher pay, reduce class sizes, and increase investments in the state university system. She passed legislation mandating that financial literacy be taught to North Carolina’s high school students. As the wife of a Vietnam veteran, Kay has a deep commitment to keeping North Carolina the most military-friendly state in the country.

I’m running because I think Washington is broken, and North Carolina families are frustrated that politicians like Elizabeth Dole are taking care of special interests rather than folks in our state. I am a proven leader, and I know how to get results for North Carolina. In the state Senate, I was part of the effort to require power companies to use renewable resources. When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll be focused on developing a new energy policy that gets gas prices under control and reduces the effects of global climate change. I’ll also push for increased investments in alternative energy such as wind, hydro, solar and biofuels, so we can be energy independent and create new jobs here at home. I’ll also take the lessons I’ve learned from balancing the budget in North Carolina to restore fiscal discipline to the budget process in Washington. We also need a new economic framework that makes college affordable, finally
takes care of our veterans and makes health care for working families a priority once again.