Networks say Dole is out in North Carolina

It looks like Democrat Kay Hagan has just pulled off a big victory in North Carolina by beating incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole. Dole, if you recall, was the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) last cycle.

Now she's out of the U.S. Senate altogether, and undoubtedly headed for a future as a lobbyist. There goes the revolving door.

Some background on the race from the Charlotte Observer:

With three of 100 counties reporting, Hagan has 949,885 votes, or 55.2 percent, to Dole's 721,163 votes, or 41.9 percent. Libertarian candidate Christopher Cole has 47,901 votes, or 2.7 percent.

The race featured two candidates who are from well-known political families.
Dole, 72, who was elected to the Senate in 2002, is the wife of former longtime U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, who lost a bid for the Presidency in 1996 to Bill Clinton.

Before coming to the Senate, Dole served as an aide in the Nixon, Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, including Secretary of Transportation under Reagan and Secretary of Labor with Bush. She left politics during most of the 1990s, serving as president of the American Red Cross before making an unsuccessful bid for President in 2000.

Hagan's uncle was Lawton Chiles, a legendary Senate figure from Florida. She served as an intern in Congress in the 1970s, getting to know figures such as Joe Biden and Ted Kennedy.

This is an awfully sweet victory.

Three Senate pickups for Democratic caucus so far!