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Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president of the United States.

His entry into the 2016 race makes him the 17th major Republican candidate for president.

The Republican said back at the beginning of July that he planned a White House run.

"I bring to the table experience that others don't have," Gilmore said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in July. He told the paper that he'll make his announcement during the first week of August.

He served as Virginia's governor from 1998 to 2002.

Gilmore was briefly a presidential candidate during the 2008 presidential campaign but dropped out in July of 2007, citing a lack of fundraising. A June 2007 NBC/WSJ poll saw him garnering the support of just one percent of Republican primary voters.