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GREENSBORO — State Sen. Kay Hagan says she has more than

Is $1 million enough to win a U.S. Senate primary? Join the discussion at the blog.

$1 million in the bank for her U.S. Senate bid, a total that puts her in good stead for the May primary but leaves some debate about her prospects if she goes on to face Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole .

Staffers said Hagan, of Greensboro, had raised more than $820,000 over the past three months, with 78 percent of her donations coming from individuals in North Carolina.

"This is a very competitive number and puts us up there in the list of Senate races to watch," said campaign spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan . Hagan faces a May 6 primary against Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal and three other candidates who are raising far less money.

Most federal campaigns across the country closed their books for the first three quarters of the year March 31. Candidates in North Carolina have through April 15 to raise money that counts toward first-quarter fundraising and won't be required to report official figures until the end of the month.

Flanagan said the early release was intentional, designed to attract the attention of potential donors and supporters.

"It was important to us to show we're competitive and we're on track to win this primary," Flanagan said.

Gary Pearce , a Democratic consultant who is working for neither campaign, said Hagan's fundraising number may not be enough to win donors who give the biggest contributions and want to invest in a winning campaign.

"My reaction to hearing she raised $1 million is that is it's bad news for Jim Neal but probably good news for (Sen. Elizabeth) Liddy Dole," Pearce said. "She's going to need a (heck) of a lot more money — $10 million, $11 million,

$12 million — to unseat an incumbent U.S. senator."

Staffers for Dole and Neal say they are going to wait until after the April 15 deadline to release numbers. Neal's campaign manager, Andrew Kain, said the candidate has nine fundraisers scheduled before the reporting deadline.

"We're going to raise as much money as humanly possible between now and then and then report our number," Kain said.

Kain said he was surprised that Hagan had not raised more but acknowledged "we'd be fortunate to get close to her number."

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker @news-record.com