Jim Neal Loses NC Senate Primary

Openly gay U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal was trounced in yesterday's North Carolina primary, taking (as of this writing) only 19% of the vote to state Sen. Kay Hagen's 62%. Hagen will now face incumbent Elizabeth Dole, who breezed to an easy win on the Republican side with 90% of the vote.

Neal's underfunded campaign ran no television ads and lacked the endorsements of some major PACs, perhaps most notably the Human Rights Campaign.

HRC's David Smith On Sirius OutQ Today

Yesterday Howie Klein, who blogs at Down With Tyranny and Crooks And Liars, appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's show on Sirius OutQ to blast the HRC for withholding its endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal.

On the show, Klein told Signorile's listeners to withhold their HRC dues and send them instead to Jim Neal. The Human Right Campaign's David Smith will appear on the show at 4:30PM to rebut. Listen on Sirius channel 109 or online here, where you can get a free three day pass.

HRC Withholds Endorsement Of Jim Neal, Openly Gay North Carolina U.S. Senate Candidate

Via Daily Kos diarist SPNJ889:

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) REFUSES to support Jim Neal, an openly gay candidate in North Carolina running for US Senate. Something fishy seems to be going on. Is the DSCC interfering in a Democratic Primary election?

Jim Neal, a progressive Democrat in North Carolina, is running to take on Senator Elizabeth Dole. He was the only Democrat running for the nomination until the National Democratic Party found out he was gay. The DSCC freaked, and recruited a Republican-lite candidate named Kay Hagan to run for the nomination (she originally refused to run). Basically, everyone in Washington DC is freaked that there is a openly gay candidate who actually has a shot of winning the Dem nomination on May 6th.

Jim Neal is supported by many here in North Carolina. He's a businessman/investment banker, so he has financial sense. He also is progressive on many issues. He's an amazing speaker in person, and would really put Elizabeth Dole on her toes.

Dan Savage:

[I]t seems to me that not receiving the endorsement of the nation’s largest gay rights group might actually help Neal with North Carolina voters. He should point to HRC’s refusal to endorse him as proof that he doesn’t march in lock-step with gay rights groups, blah blah blah, and that their non-endorsement is proof that he’s not a single-issue candidate.

Here's the list of Senatorial candidates endorsed by the HRC:

Max Baucus, D-MT

Joe Biden, D-DE

Susan Collins, R-ME

Dick Durbin, D-IL

Al Franken, D-MN

Tom Harkin, D-IA

John Kerry, D-MA

Mary Landrieu, D-LA

Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ

Carl Levin, D-MI

Jack Reed, D-RI

Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH

Mark Udall, D-CO

Tom Udall, D-NM

I can't imagine why the HRC has not endorsed Neal.

U.S. Senate Candidate Comes Out

Jim Neal, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate from North Carolina, came out this weekend during an online chat on the liberal political blog BlueNC. When asked if he was gay, Neal replied, "I am indeed." Neal is running against Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

There has never been an openly gay U.S. senator.

Saying he does not want to be known as "the gay candidate", Neal added, "I'm not running this race to make some social statement. I'm running to lead in the Senate for the voters in NC - something Sen. Dole has not done."

A North Carolina native, Neal, 51, has worked in information technology, including a stint as CEO of RXMarketplace.com. In 2000, he founded The Agema Group, a financial advisory firm based in Chapel Hill.

Neal's campaign site make no mention of his sexual orientation or of his positions on issues important to the LGBT community. He is unmarried with two sons, one living with him at home and one working in New York City.

This will be very interesting.

UPDATE: Here's the online chat with Neal on BlueNC.
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