Tim Kaine

Tim Kaine
Name	Tim Kaine
Caption	Official portrait, 2013
Office	United States Senator from Virginia
Term start	January 3, 2013
Alongside	Mark Warner
Predecessor	Jim Webb
Office2	70th Governor of Virginia
Term start2	January 14, 2006
Term end2	January 16, 2010
Lieutenant2	Bill Bolling
Predecessor2	Mark Warner
Successor2	Bob McDonnell
Office3	38th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
Term start3	January 12, 2002
Term end3	January 14, 2006
Governor3	Mark Warner
Predecessor3	John H. Hager
Successor3	Bill Bolling
Office4	Mayor of Richmond
Term start4	July 1, 1998
Term end4	September 10, 2001
Predecessor4	Larry Chavis
Successor4	Rudy McCollum
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Anne Holton
Education	University of Missouri (BA), Harvard University (JD)

Tim Kaine is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 70th Governor of Virginia and was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2016 election alongside Hillary Clinton. His career in public service has spanned local, state, and national levels, marked by a focus on economic development, education policy, and foreign relations.

Early life and education

Timothy Michael Kaine was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and spent part of his childhood in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Rockhurst High School before attending the University of Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics. Inspired by his father-in-law, former Republican Governor of Virginia A. Linwood Holton Jr., he pursued a legal education, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1983. After law school, he moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he practiced civil rights law at a small firm and taught legal ethics at the University of Richmond School of Law.

Early political career

Kaine's political career began with his election to the Richmond City Council in 1994, where he served for four years. He was then elected Mayor of Richmond in 1998, serving in that role until 2001 and focusing on initiatives to improve public education and reduce racial segregation in city neighborhoods. In 2001, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on a ticket with Mark Warner, who was elected Governor of Virginia. As lieutenant governor, Kaine presided over the Virginia Senate and championed environmental protection measures.

Governor of Virginia

Elected in 2005, Kaine served as the 70th Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. His tenure was dominated by managing the state's budget during the Great Recession, where he made significant cuts while protecting funding for K-12 education. He signed executive orders to combat climate change and expand pre-kindergarten programs. Kaine also presided over the state's response to the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and served as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the final year of his gubernatorial term.

U.S. Senator from Virginia

Kaine was elected to the United States Senate in 2012, succeeding retiring Senator Jim Webb. In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has been a vocal advocate for congressional oversight of military engagements, including debates over the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists. He serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, working on issues such as veterans' healthcare and career and technical education. He has been a leading voice on Latin America policy and a critic of the Trump administration's foreign policy.

2016 vice presidential campaign

On July 22, 2016, Hillary Clinton selected Kaine as her running mate for the Democratic ticket in the 2016 presidential election. The campaign emphasized his executive experience as governor, his fluency in Spanish from his time as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras, and his reputation as a pragmatic moderate. The ticket ultimately lost the Electoral College to Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence, though they won the popular vote.

Political positions

Kaine is considered a centrist or moderate Democrat. He is generally supportive of abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act, and has advocated for comprehensive immigration reform. On foreign policy, he has pushed for a new Authorization for Use of Military Force to replace the 2001 version and has been a staunch supporter of NATO. He co-sponsored legislation to raise the federal minimum wage and has supported investments in renewable energy and infrastructure. Kaine voted to convict President Donald Trump during both his first and second impeachment trials.

Category:United States senators from Virginia Category:Governors of Virginia Category:Democratic Party vice presidential nominees