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Former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal is lobbying for Hillary Clinton for vice president.

The Chapel Hill investment banker, who lost the Democratic primary to state Sen. Kay Hagan in May, is the spokesman for Draft Obama Clinton in North Carolina.

The group is pushing for Clinton to be Barack Obama's running mate.

"Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama have energized millions of new voters, and all of them are committed to seeing a Democrat in the White House in January," Neal said in a statement. "The best way to unite the party is to unite the two strongest candidates our party has ever seen."

Draft Obama Clinton was launched by Citizens Consent, a grassroots organization unaffiliated with either campaign. It launched a draft Kerry-Edwards Web site in 2004, collecting over 100,000 signatures in an online petition. 

In the primary, Neal endorsed Obama, saying he thought Clinton would be great in the No. 2 slot. In recent weeks, he has reorganized his Facebook supporter group, saying he intends to remain involved in state politics. 

Jim Neal

On Sept. 1 of that year, the Chapel Hill investment banker gave $300 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which handles races for the U.S. House of Representatives.

He said he gave the money in order to get on the group's mailing list.

"I want to stay in touch with what they're doing," said Neal, a lifelong Democrat. "I get all the blast e-mails from the Republican Party now, though they'll probably cut me off the list now."

He said he may have given to the National Republican Senatorial Committee as well.

The donation is a trickle compared to the $9,000 that Neal has given directly to Democrats, including U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Wesley Clark's presidential campaigns, Erskine Bowles' Senate campaign, and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller's campaigns.

He's also given $5,000 to Keeping America's Promise, a political action committee working to elect Democrats at the national level.

After the jump, a full list of his donations.

Jim Neal says he has an uphill battle for Senate.

With no name recognition and a nationally recognized incumbent in U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, the Chapel Hill investment banker says he'll have to spend the next year introducing himself to North Carolina voters.

He's going to start at this weekend's Vance-Aycock Dinner, where his campaign will host a hospitality suite. He's also got a Web site up and running.

Neal also plans to take the year off from work, as he did in 2004, when he worked as a fundraiser for the campaigns of Erskine Bowles, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark and U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

He hopes to tap into that network of national donors to offset Dole's campaign war chest. He noted that former Gov. Jim Hunt also got out-of-state money when he ran against U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

"I'm a fighter," he said. "I'm running this race to win."

James W. Neal Jr. is a relative unknown to most voters.

The Chapel Hill investment banker may announce this weekend that he'll run for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole in 2008.

Neal, 50, is chairman and CEO of The Agema Group, a specialized financial advisory firm based in Research Triangle Park. He earned a bachelor of science in business administration from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1978, and a master of business administration from the University of Chicago in 1983.

In 2002, he was appointed to the Board of Governors of The New School in New York City.

In 2004, Neal raised money for retired Gen. Wesley Clark in the Democratic presidential primary. When Clark dropped out, he joined the John Kerry campaign.

He also donated $1,000 to U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, in 2006. Miller had previously considered, then rejected, running against Dole next year.

Neal has been registered to vote in Chapel Hill since June 30 of last year, and he voted here in the November elections.

An excerpt of a news article about his fundraising after the jump.

A Democratic fundraiser may run against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

According to an article in the Carrboro Citizen, Jim Neal is expected to announce a run for Senate at the Vance-Aycock Dinner this weekend in Asheville.

A native of Greensboro, Neal now lives in Chapel Hill. He is a former investment banker and now works as a financial advisor.

Neal raised money for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004.

State Sen. Kay Hagan and state Rep. Grier Martin are also considering running for the Democratic senatorial nomination.

Previously: Kirk Ross drops a hint another candidate may run.