12 things to know about Jim Webb
Former Sen. Jim Webb, who today announced his bid to become the Democrats’ presidential nominee, has been a dark horse before.
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In 2006, Webb, a former Secretary of the Navy who had never occupied political office, ran for U.S. Senate in Virginia against former Sen. George Allen. Allen, a Republican, spent about twice as much as Webb. He was expected to easily win. But after a liberal campaign operative captured Allen using a racial slur, Webb pulled off an upset.
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Webb is hoping for an even more unlikely upset — this time in a Democratic primary field dominated by Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, senator and first lady.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee are also running.
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Webb must demonstrate he can raise money to stay competitive. Here’s more on Webb’s political and financial history:
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Sources: Center for Public Integrity reporting, as well as Business Insider, Center for Responsive Politics, Federal Election Commission, IMDB.com and U.S. Senate
Image sources: Cliff/Flickr, Nati Harnik/AP, Steve Helber/AP
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This story is part of Primary Source. Primary Source keeps you up-to-date on developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics. Click here to read more stories in this blog.
Copyright 2015 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
