by Mike McWilliams

ASHEVILLE – U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal said North Carolinians have been served by “career politicians” for too long.

“I think it’s time for us to have new people, fresh faces, new ideas and different backgrounds,” Neal, a financial adviser from Chapel Hill, said at a rally Thursday in Asheville.

Neal mingled with about 50 people at Asheville Brewing Co. as part of his last swing through Western North Carolina before Tuesday’s primary.

He is one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to run against first-term U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

If elected, Neal said he would continue to come back to North Carolina to take issues most important to voters back with him to Washington.

The top issues Neal said he’s heard while campaigning include the economy, health insurance and the war in Iraq.

“I would not vote for any more open-ended funding until the next administration either unilaterally or in consultation with Congress agrees to give the following order to our military authorities: Bring our troops home quickly and safely,” Neal said.

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