Senate hopeful Kay Hagan (D) went on the air with a television ad Wednesday, a month before Tar Heel State voters head to the primary polls on May 6. The state Senator’s 30-second spots, according to her campaign, highlight “Kay’s deep ties to North Carolina — the family she’s raised here, the reasons she entered public service and her record of bringing the kind of change Washington needs.”

Hagan’s ad appears days after she announced raising more than $820,000 during the first quarter, putting her cash on hand total at $1 million-plus. Hagan’s Democratic primary opponent, investment adviser Jim Neal, has not released his first-quarter totals. He had roughly $140,000 in cash on Jan. 1.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) had $2.7 million in the bank as of Jan. 1.

Meanwhile, Neal’s campaign this week was highlighting an automated SurveyUSA poll showing him in a dead heat with Hagan in the Democratic primary.

According to a ballot test, 21 percent of likely primary voters chose Hagan, while 20 percent preferred Neal and 45 percent were undecided.

The poll of 725 likely voters was taken April 5-7 and had a margin of error of 3.7 points.

Defense Dept. Scolds McHenry for Video Rep. Patrick McHenry (R) was told by the Defense Department on Tuesday not to put footage of his recent Iraq Congressional delegation back on his Web site, according to local news reports.

Earlier this week, an anti-war veterans group, Votevets.org, alleged that McHenry broke federal guidelines by putting footage on the Internet of a Green Zone rocket attack he witnessed — and filmed — during his Easter recess trip.

“The bottom line is that whoever launched that strike could take the information McHenry provided and use it to kill Americans in the Green Zone,” Votevets.org spokesman Brandon Friedman told the Charlotte Observer. “This is why professionals operating in a combat zone are trained not to reveal any battle damage after an attack.”

McHenry’s office countered that the lawmaker was not told of the potential hazards in posting the now-shelved video.

“The Congressman shot the video in the company of State Department and military personnel, and was not briefed on withholding its publication,” McHenry spokesman Wes Climer told the Observer. “We voluntarily removed the video after learning that it might infringe on accepted protocol, and then contacted officials at the Department of Defense, who supported our decision.”

— Matthew Murray