Senator-elect Kay Hagan, the North Carolina Democrat who ousted Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, has withdrawn a defamation suit over a Dole ad that linked Hagan with a ‘godless’ group.
Hagan filed the suit Oct. 30, saying Dole inaccurately accused her of having ties to an atheist political action committee. Hagan filed a motion to dismiss the suit yesterday.
“It’s clear that the people of North Carolina have rejected personal attacks aimed at dividing people of this state instead of bringing them together to solve the problems at hand,” said Colleen Flanagan, communications director for Hagan’s campaign.
“This lawsuit would just continue the focus on a very personal and negative attack against Kay, instead of focusing on the people of North Carolina.”
In the suit, Hagan charged that Dole and her campaign maligned her reputation with an ad that “falsely implies that (Hagan) shares the views of an entity that calls itself the Godless Americans PAC.”
The two campaigns created dueling ads in which Dole defended her initial attack against Hagan, and Hagan denying the alleged connections with the atheist group.
Hagan stated in the suit that she attended a September fundraiser at the Boston home of Woody Kaplan but never took contributions from the Godless Americans PAC.
Ellen Johnson, executive director of Enlighten the Vote, the new name of the PAC, responded to the controversy by saying Kaplan, a former advisory board member, was involved in the fundraiser independently of the PAC.
A spokesperson for the Dole campaign could not be reached immediately for comment.
The original ad can be viewed here.
