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Rodney Glassman is new to the political stage, and he has set his sights on one of the nation's most storied politicians _ John McCain, a hardened survivor of tough battles in politics and in war.

Glassman has loaned his campaign $500,000. He's the best funded Democrat McCain has faced in his home state since he was first elected to the Senate in 1986. But Glassman faces an incumbent with millions of dollars and a battle-tested staff left over from McCain's unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2008.

Glassman was 32 when he announced he would step down from the Tucson City Council to challenge McCain. He left Tucson government midway through his first four-year term because, he says, it's time for "the next generation of leader."

He touts among his accomplishments a first-of-its-kind ordinance requiring new businesses in Tucson to use rainwater for at least half of their landscaping water. The measure has been replicated elsewhere.

Glassman is a lawyer who is a judge advocate general officer in the Air Force Reserve and a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva. He said his work for Grijalva showed him firsthand how McCain's opposition to so-called earmarks is forcing Arizona to miss out on funding for important public works projects. Earmarks are special federal funding requests for home state projects; McCain says they breed corruption, and he's built a national reputation for opposing them.

Glassman says his top priorities are jobs and education.