‘I think we did extremely well,’ said Jim Neal, a gay candidate for Senate from North Carolina who lost by 42 points. (Photo by Gerry Broome/AP)
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JOSHUA LYNSEN
Friday, May 16, 2008
Jim Neal ran himself ragged during his bid to win a U.S. Senate seat.
The 51-year-old gay man said he subsisted on caffeine and sugar as he crisscrossed North Carolina, shed 15 pounds he didn’t have to lose and allowed himself only a few hours of sleep each night.
It was a grueling campaign. And though Neal finished far behind the winner of the Democratic primary, the former candidate said he’s not overly upset about the outcome.
“I think we did extremely well,” he said. “I was told by the pundits and folks who look at things like this for a living that our campaign should have just been a rounding error.”
Neal, who took 18 percent of the vote but lost to state Sen. Kay Hagan by 42 points, said he was pleased with what his grassroots campaign achieved.
“I’m actually feeling very, very good about the campaign we ran,” he said. “And very tired. It’s just hitting me.”
Speaking to the Blade by phone in the aftermath of last week’s vote, Neal said he also was pleased that North Carolinians were generally unconcerned that he’s gay.
“The story here was not about me being gay,” he said. “The story here was about me being the political outsider, the insurgent candidate challenging the system.”
Neal said there were times when crowds discussed his sexual orientation in hushed tones, but he was able to refocus the discussion.
“I’d say, ‘Look, I can go around this room and find so many things that make us different, but I can find a hell of a lot more that makes us alike,’” he said. “And that was the undercurrent. What the voters in North Carolina are looking for is someone who can address the real issues in their lives.”
Many voters found that in Neal. About 2,500 people gave an average $80 donation to the campaign.
Neal also shifted $120,000 from his own pocketbook to the campaign, a move he once touted as a loan but now considers an irretrievable donation.
“You know, I believe in what I was doing, and part of that is what I would call having skin in the game,” he said. “And I put a lot more money into the campaign than I wanted to or I could afford to, but I was putting my money where my mouth was. And I don’t regret that for a moment.”
What he regrets is not entering the race sooner and not concentrating more on fundraising.
“I didn’t do as good a job as I could have by just drilling through those grueling six or seven hours a day of fundraising calls,” Neal said. “I just hated it. And I don’t know a single candidate who likes it. But I wasn’t as disciplined about that as I could have been. And that’s my fault. That was my responsibility to do that.”
James Spencer, Neal’s election consultant, said the campaign’s fundraising efforts also were hurt when two key gay organizations declined to endorse Neal.
Spencer said he “frankly found it appalling” that the Human Rights Campaign and Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund chose to stay out of the race, and is pleased that “a very healthy debate” has raged regarding those decisions.
“Hopefully,” he said, “some of the groups have learned some lessons from this.”
Chuck Wolfe, Victory Fund president, has declined to discuss why Neal did not win an endorsement. Joe Solmonese, HRC president, said the organization made no endorsement because it could only become involved in a limited number of races.
“I never wanted to — in any way — diminish Jim Neal or his intentions,” Solmonese said. “But I feel like we have a responsibility to make these hard decisions and to consider a lot of different factors and choose wisely.”
Hilary Rosen, a longtime gay rights activist who once served as HRC’s interim director, contributed to Neal’s campaign, but in retrospect said he didn’t have a chance at winning the race.
“I do think it is important to note that groups like HRC who didn’t endorse, made their choice based upon a more thorough investigation of his opportunity,” she said. “And I think most people are glad that they are careful with the precious resources that they are entrusted with by their members.”
In the aftermath of his defeat, Neal said little about the decisions made by HRC and Victory Fund.
“I think the lack of action speaks for itself,” he said. “But when I talk about running against the political establishment, the Human Rights Campaign and the Victory Fund don’t get a pass on that.”
Neal, a former investment banker, said he’s unsure what he’ll do next or whether he’ll run again for office.
“It’s way too soon to even go there,” he said. “I’m still in the — how should I describe it? I’m still in the period where I’m decompressing.”
Neal said his run for Senate gave him “a voice,” though, and he’s resolved to use it to help the many needy people he met during his campaign.
“Whatever I do, I’m going to use that voice to empower and to work on behalf of those — the people that I have seen and met and heard and been so touched by, that are the voiceless many in our state,” he said. “The people who need government the most and get the least from it. That’s where my future lies. That’s the path I’ll follow.”
Joshua Lynsen can be reached at jlynsen@washblade.com.
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