Former Virginia senator Jim Webb has dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
Webb, who has been polling at around 1%, dropped out after a lackluster performance in the first Democratic debate during which he repeatedly complained about not getting enough air time and also boasted about killing a man in combat while serving in the Vietnam war.
The one-term senator has long been an outlier in the Democratic field. A long-time Republican who served in the Reagan administration, he stood out from his Democratic rivals with his opposition to the Iran deal and relatively conservative stances on a number of social issues.
Webb’s lack of success in the Democratic race was not just due to being ideologically out of touch with the party’s primary voters. He did not build any campaign infrastructure and only visited the crucial early states of Iowa and New Hampshire a handful of times.
In the most recent campaign finance report, Webb reported raising less than $700,000 over a nine-month period and had $316,765 on hand.
Despite ending his bid for the Democratic nomination, Webb may still pursue a third-party bid. Though he sent out an email to reporters on Monday night stating “Jim Webb To Consider Independent Run”, he was not expected to announce any such plans to run as an independent on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Webb campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
