Presidential Candidacy in 2008
A "Draft Gilmore for President" group was formed in August 2006 encouraging Gilmore to run for president. On December 19, 2006, Gilmore announced he would form an exploratory committee to "fill the conservative void" in the race. On January 9, 2007, Gilmore officially filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to form the Jim Gilmore for President Exploratory Committee.
Gilmore said he represented "the Republican wing of the Republican Party" in the race for the 2008 Presidential nomination; the comment mirrored the slogan used by Howard Dean when seeking the Democratic nomination in the 2004 election, who lifted the slogan from Senator Paul Wellstone. Gilmore officially announced his candidacy on April 26, 2007.
In the first quarter of 2007 Gilmore raised $174,790, the second lowest of any of the major-party candidates. Gilmore hosted only one fundraiser in the first quarter due to a late exploratory announcement.
On July 14, 2007, Gilmore announced that he was ending his campaign. Gilmore said that it would be "impractical" to run, citing the difficulty of raising enough money to be competitive in early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
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