Jim Neal would be the second openly gay Senate nominee of a major party.
The first was Ed Flanagan, who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat in Vermont in 2000, losing to then-Republican Jim Jeffords.
In North Carolina, state Sen. Julia Boseman of Wilmington became the first gay person elected to the Senate in 2004. In August, Gov. Mike Easley appointed Judge John S. Arrowood to the N.C. Court of Appeals, making him the first openly gay statewide official.
Nationally, the number of openly gay elected officials has risen from 49 to 380 since 1991.
Still, homosexuality can be divisive in the South. In 1990, U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms attacked his Democratic opponent, Harvey Gantt, for holding fundraisers in "gay and lesbian bars." (N&O)
Thosetactics can also backfire. A Wilmington newspaper withdrew its endorsement of Boseman's opponent when he attacked her sexual orientation. (Char-O)
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