Richard Sullivan says he's not running.

The Democrat fundraiser had contemplated a campaign for state Democratic Party chairman, but he told Dome Tuesday that he had decided against it.

"I just decided that because of current business interests and small children at home that I couldn't do it in a full-time capacity," he said. "I may serve in another capacity."

That leaves 11th District chairman Luke Hyde, vice chair Dannie Montgomery, attorney David Parker and former Senate candidate Jim Neal in the race.

Sullivan rose in politics as a key fund raiser for Rep. Dick Gephardt and then for Bill and Hillary Clinton. He estimated that he raised a half billion dollars for Democratic candidates and causes. 

The state Democratic Executive Committee will meet in Raleigh on Jan. 31 to select among the candidates.

The winner will replace outgoing chairman Jerry Meek.

The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner hasn't been this exciting in 20 years.

The Democratic Party's annual fundraiser has been going since 1930, attracting such notable guests as Vice President Lyndon Johnson in 1963.

But it's not been as big a deal as it will be tomorrow since the last time North Carolina's presidential primary was meaningful in 1988.

That year, 2,000 Democrats gathered at the N.C. State Fairgrounds to hear from three of the five active presidential candidates: Al Gore, Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson. (Note to younger readers: The dinner is not named for him.)

Michael Dukakis and Dick Gephardt, the other two candidates that year, did not attend.

According to a New York Times account of the evening by Tar Heel native Tom Wicker, "Gore backers made the most noise, though the Senator's speech did not much rouse the audience."

Gore won North Carolina on that year's Super Tuesday, but lost the nomination to Dukakis.

Richard Sullivan is Hillary Clinton's man in North Carolina.

According to a 2007 profile by Rob Christensen, the Raleigh public affairs consultant is the Democratic presidential candidate's biggest booster in the state.

Although he has a low profile here, Sullivan — or "Sully" to his friends — is well-known on Wall Street, K Street and Hollywood.

The son of a South Carolina legislator, he first became involved in Dick Gephardt's 1988 presidential campaign, then became a protege of Clinton fundraiser Terry McAuliffe.

He moved to Charlotte in 1997, then to an inside-the-Beltline neighborhood in West Raleigh in 2001.

His wife, Carolina Finklea Sullivan, worked as a fundraiser for state Sen. Marc Basnight and the Democratic Senate caucus.

The full profile after the jump.

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OBJECTS IN MIRROR: John Edwards may be closer than he appears in Iowa, reports the Boston Globe. He's working the rural counties, where it takes only 22 caucus-goers to win a delegate, compared to 80 in urban areas, and he's picked up most of Dick Gephardt's 2004 trade union support. Who was Gephardt again?

THE OUTSIDERS: Edwards says outsiders (read: 527 groups) shouldn't spend money to influence elections, reports the New York Times. But the Alliance for a New America, set up by a local of the Service Employees International Union, is paying for ads promoting his campaign. Call it a Catch-527.

RE: CAMPAIGN '08: An internal memo from Edwards' deputy campaign manager says Edwards will hold a series of small round table discussions to push his positive middle-class message, says the Washington Post. It says the campaign is strong, etc. etc. Of course, would they write otherwise?

IN OTHER NEWS: Edwards new ad in New Hampshire tells voters "the power that comes with the presidency comes from you." At least until Inauguration Day, right? ... Edwards offers doughnuts to the undecided in Nashua. How long is the drive again? ... Elizabeth Edwards makes the "People Who Mattered" list in Time magazine's "Person of the Year" issue. Sort of the Miss Congeniality to Vladimir Putin's top spot. Of course, next to him, Attila the Hun would be prom king.

John Edwards' campaign officials cast today's endorsement by the Iowa council of the Service Employees International Union as a boost in the state that kicks off the presidential campaign in January.

"SEIU is going to be a major player in Iowa on behalf of Sen. John Edwards," Edwards's campaign manager David Bonior told reporters, The Charlotte Observer's Jim Morrill reports.

SEIU has around 2,000 members in the state. Last week the national union - which claims 1.9-million members - decided not to make a national endorsement in the primaries.

Heading into the 2004 caucuses, SEIU endorsed Democrat Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor and then-U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri locked up most union endorsements that year. Each finished behind Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Edwards.

Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, Edwards' state campaign director, said this year's SEIU endorsement will be a big help.

"Two thousand members and their families will make a great difference to us on caucus night," she told reporters.