Hagan drops support for N.C. judge's appointment

GREENSBORO (Winston-Salem Journal) - U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has withdrawn support for a possible lifetime federal appointment for a state judge who ruled in favor of a company that includes her husband.

Three weeks ago, Hagan, D-N.C., recommended Judge Calvin Murphy to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. District Court for Western North Carolina. Nine days later, Murphy signed a ruling favoring the owners of five small hydroelectric plants on the Deep River, one of them belonging to Hydrodyne Industries.

The company lists Hagan's husband as a managing member, the News & Record of Greensboro reported Thursday.

The first-term Democratic senator said she didn't know Murphy had ruled in a case in which her husband, Greensboro lawyer Charles T. "Chip" Hagan III, had a stake until the newspaper asked her to comment.