WASHINGTON
Sen.-elect Kay Hagan, D-N.C., joined other freshman legislators for orientation Monday on her first visit to Washington since defeating Republican incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
Hagan met with Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, and planned to spend time looking for a place to live when her term begins in January.
Hagan's victory -- a win that many thought unlikely as recently as six months ago -- was one of six Senate seats that Democrats took from Republicans in the election, helping the party expand its majority to at least 57 seats.
Hagan said she had formally requested seats on the Senate banking and armed-services committees, and hoped to hear a decision by the end of the week.
The banking slot would give Hagan, a banking executive before she joined the N.C. Senate, a voice in the continuing national debate about regulation of a key industry in the state. Dole serves on the banking committee.
As a freshman member of an institution that prizes seniority, Hagan would find it difficult to exert a great deal of influence during her first term.
She said she would work to be effective by making constituent service "a hallmark of her office."
"That's the way I operated as a state senator.... I think it's crucial for citizens of North Carolina to know they can have responses to their requests," she said.
This week, Hagan and other freshman legislators will get ethics training, advice on setting up their offices, and will participate in leadership elections.
She said she spent part of Sunday looking for a place to live, and planned to do so again later this week.
"Since I know I'm going to be here for at least six years, I'd love to buy a place," she said. "I need to find a place fairly quickly, so if I can't find something, I'll just find a place to rent for a while."
She said she expected to return to the state on most days when Congress is out of session.
"I'm going to play it by ear. That's my intent right now. I would envision sometimes my husband coming up and being here for the weekend," she said.
During the campaign, Hagan made an issue of the amount of time Dole spent in the state. A review of records by Media General News Service found that Dole spent less than two weeks in North Carolina in 2006.
Dole disputed the finding -- which repeatedly appeared in Hagan's television commercials -- but her office was unable to provide documents showing more visits.
■ Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.
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