Former Va. Gov. Jim Gilmore Running for President

The Republican presidential field just got bigger, again. 

Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, a Republican, said Tuesday that he will seek the nomination and make a formal announcement the first week of next month, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other news outlets.

He'll join 14 declared GOP candidates along with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is expected to announce on Monday, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is expected to announce on July 21.

Gilmore governed Virginia from 1998 until 2002, a period that included the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. He made a short bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2007 and ran for Senate in 2008, losing to Democrat Mark Warner. 

Gilmore acknowledged his low name recognition will likely mean exclusion from the first televised debate on Aug. 6, but said his national security experience, which includes an Army intelligence stint, will set him apart. 

“I think the country is in serious danger,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Right now we are projecting weakness.”