Republican Jeb Bush is finally going to answer to "candidate."
After months of playing a coy, will-he-or-won't-he game over declaring a formal bid for the presidency, Bush is set to formally announce today.
Since December, when he said he would "actively explore" running, Bush has built a formidable operation that includes a roster of well-known campaign operatives, a super PAC named Right to Rise and an accompanying nonprofit group that will reportedly concentrate on policy.
His heavy involvement with these groups, which are legally prohibited from coordinating their expenditures with his official campaign committee once he is an official candidate, has earned him criticism from both the left and the right. Some campaign finance reform advocates have even urged the attorney general to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Bush violated campaign finance laws, something he maintains he has not done.
To be sure, Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, has tapped his rich Rolodex over the past six months. Estimates of the amount he's raised by his fledgling operation range as high as $100 million.
But despite the big war chest, though, the former Florida governor has had some high-profile stumbles, and his undeclared campaign went through a shakeup earlier this month.
Here's more on Bush's political and financial history:
Sources: Center for Public Integrity reporting, as well as the Center for Responsive Politics, Miami Herald, Politico, Yahoo News and U.S. Senate.
Image sources:AP