Taking legal action against Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole - over an ad suggesting Kay Hagan is an atheist - the North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate filed a lawsuit on Thursday. In response to the ad, Hagan said that Dole’s attacks on her Christian faith were offensive.

Hagan had asked Dole to stop running the ad, which criticized Hagan’s attendance at a fundraiser hosted by a member of the Godless Americans committee. Hagan said the Dole campaign faked her voice in the ad to make voters think she doesn't believe in God.

Terming the ad “pathetic”, Hagan said the lawsuit asks for damages for Dole’s broadcast, and production, of an “intentionally defamatory advertisement.”  

Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said in a statement: “In filing this suit, we’ve made clear that these kind of despicable tactics will not be tolerated, and our campaign is moving forward with the most important task at hand: defeating Elizabeth Dole, and giving North Carolina's families a voice in the U.S. Senate that they’ve been sorely missing.”

Suggesting that Dole broke one of the Ten Commandments, Hagan, who has taught Sunday school, said she is running for office to help boost the economy and create jobs, instead of “bearing false witness against fellow Christians.”

Daniel McLagan, Dole spokesman, called Hagan’s response “fairly hysterical.” He said it is “sad” that Hagan has “stooped that kind of name-calling” and insisted that everything in Dole’s ad is true.