RICHMOND — Jim Webb has hired former Draft Biden national finance director Sam Jones to lead his fundraising operations, a new sign that the former Virginia senator is seriously eyeing an independent White House run.

"After weeks of study, including consultations with ballot experts and independent activists around the country, we have a handle on what it takes to give voters in every state a real choice,” Webb spokesman Craig Crawford said in a statement.

"We are so pleased that Sam Jones is coming on board to help us examine what is now the decisive issue: How to pay for it.”

Jones, who lives in Dallas, built a national network of donors last year in an effort to boost boost a Biden presidential campaign.

Biden announced Oct. 21 that he would not run for president in 2016, saying "the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president" had closed.

Webb, who represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate from 2007 to 2013, said the day before that he was dropping his lagging Democratic bid for president, but would consider running as an independent.