Tim Kaine | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |
| United States Senator fromVirginia | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2013 Serving with Mark Warner | |
| Preceded by | Jim Webb |
| Chair of theDemocratic National Committee | |
| In office January 21, 2009 – April 5, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Howard Dean |
| Succeeded by | Debbie Wasserman Schultz |
| 70thGovernor of Virginia | |
| In office January 14, 2006 – January 16, 2010 | |
| Lieutenant | Bill Bolling |
| Preceded by | Mark Warner |
| Succeeded by | Bob McDonnell |
| 38thLieutenant Governor of Virginia | |
| In office January 12, 2002 – January 14, 2006 | |
| Governor | Mark Warner |
| Preceded by | John H. Hager |
| Succeeded by | Bill Bolling |
| 76thMayor of Richmond | |
| In office July 1, 1998 – September 10, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Larry Chavis |
| Succeeded by | Rudy McCollum |
| Member of theRichmond City Council from the 2nd district | |
| In office July 1, 1994 – September 10, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin P.A. Warthen |
| Succeeded by | William J. Pantele |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Timothy Michael Kaine (1958-02-26)February 26, 1958 (age 67) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website Campaign website |
Tim Kaine on a need to end "apathy as usual" in regards to racism in America Recorded June 16, 2020 | |
Timothy Michael Kaine (/keɪn/KAYN; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as thejuniorUnited States senator fromVirginia since 2013. A member of theDemocratic Party, he served as the70th governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and as the 38thlieutenant governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. Kaine was the Democratic nominee forvice president of the United States in the2016 election asHillary Clinton's running mate.
Born inSaint Paul, Minnesota, Kaine grew up inOverland Park, Kansas, graduated from theUniversity of Missouri inColumbia, Missouri, and earned aJuris Doctor degree fromHarvard Law School before entering private practice and becoming a lecturer at theUniversity of Richmond School of Law. He was first elected to public office in 1994, when he won a seat on theRichmond city council. He was electedmayor of Richmond in 1998 and held that position until being elected lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2001. Kaine was elected governor of Virginiain 2005 and held that office from 2006 to 2010. He chaired theDemocratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. In2012, Kaine was elected to theU.S. Senate, defeating former Virginia governor and senatorGeorge Allen.
On July 22, 2016, Hillary Clinton introduced Kaine as her vice-presidentialrunning mate. The2016 Democratic National Convention nominated him on July 27. Despite winning aplurality of the national popular vote, the Clinton–Kaine ticket lost theElectoral College, and therefore the election, to the Republicanticket ofDonald Trump andMike Pence on November 8, 2016. Kaine was reelected to a second Senate term in2018, defeating RepublicanCorey Stewart. He was reelected for a third term in2024, defeatingRepublican nomineeHung Cao.
Kaine was born atSaint Joseph's Hospital inSaint Paul, Minnesota. He is the eldest of three sons[1][2] born to Mary Kathleen (née Burns), a home economics teacher, and Albert Alexander Kaine Jr., a welder and the owner of a small iron-working shop.[2][3][4] He was raised Catholic.[2] One of Kaine's great-grandparents wasScottish and the other seven wereIrish.[3][5][6] Kaine's family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, when Kaine was two years old, and he grew up in theKansas City area.[7] In 1976, he graduated fromRockhurst High School, aJesuit all-boyspreparatory school inKansas City, Missouri.[1][8] At Rockhurst, Kaine joined the debate team and was elected student body president.[2]
Kaine received hisBachelor of Arts ineconomics from theUniversity of Missouri in 1979, completing his degree in three years and graduatingOmicron Delta Kappa andsumma cum laude.[1][2] He was aCoro Foundation fellow in Kansas City in 1978.[9] He entered Harvard Law School in 1979, interrupting his law studies after his first year to work inHonduras[10][11][a] for nine months from 1980 to 1981, helping Jesuitmissionaries who ran aCatholic school inEl Progreso.[7][14] While running a vocational center that taught carpentry and welding, he also helped increase the school's enrollment by recruiting local villagers.[2] Kaine is fluent inSpanish as a result of his time in Honduras.[14]
After returning from Honduras, Kaine met his future wife, first-year Harvard Law studentAnne Holton.[2] He graduated from Harvard Law School with aJ.D. degree in 1983.[1] Kaine and Holton moved to Holton's hometown of Richmond, Virginia, after graduation,[2] and Kaine wasadmitted to the Virginia bar in 1984.[8]
After graduating from law school, Kaine was alaw clerk for JudgeR. Lanier Anderson III of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, inMacon, Georgia.[8] He then joined the Richmond law firm of Little, Parsley & Cluverius, P.C.[8] In 1987, Kaine became a director of the law firm of Mezzullo & McCandlish, P.C.[8] He practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing infair housing law and representing clients discriminated against on the basis ofrace ordisability.[15] He was a board member of the Virginia chapter of Housing Opportunities Made Equal, which he represented in a landmarkredlining discrimination lawsuit againstNationwide Mutual Insurance Co. arising from the company's practices in Richmond.[16][17] Kaine won a $100.5 million verdict in the case; the judgment was overturned on appeal, and Kaine and his colleagues negotiated a $17.5 millionsettlement.[17]
Kaine did regularpro bono work.[16] In 1988, he started teaching legal ethics as anadjunct professor at theUniversity of Richmond School of Law.[8][15] Kaine taught at the University of Richmond for six years; his students included futureVirginia attorney generalMark Herring.[15][18] He was a founding member of the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness.[16]
Kaine had a largely apolitical childhood, but he became interested in politics in part due to the influence of his wife's family and his experience attending Richmond city council meetings.[7] In 1994, he was elected the 2nd district member of thecity council of theindependent city ofRichmond, defeating incumbent city councilor Benjamin P.A. Warthen by 97 votes.[19][20] He took his seat on July 1 and retained the position until September 10, 2001, when he resigned; William J. Pantele was appointed to succeed him.[21][22][23] Kaine spent four terms on the city council, the latter two as mayor of Richmond.[15][24]
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Mayor of Richmond Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Chair of the DNC Governor of Virginia U.S. Senator from Virginia Vice presidential campaign
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On July 1, 1998, Kaine was elected mayor of Richmond, succeeding Larry Chavis.[25][26] The majority-black Richmond City Council[b] chose him by an 8 to 1 vote,[20] making him the city's first white mayor in more than ten years,[22][24] which was viewed as a surprise.[25]Rudy McCollum, an African American city councilor also interested in the mayoralty, decided to back Kaine after a private meeting between the two, clearing the way for him.[20] Previous mayors had treated the role as primarily ceremonial,[27] with thecity manager effectively operating the city; Kaine treated it as a full-time job, taking a more hands-on role.[25]
As mayor, Kaine used a sale-leaseback arrangement to obtain funds to renovate the historic Maggie L. Walker High School and reopen it in 2000 as amagnetgovernor's school, theMaggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, which "now serves the top students in Central Virginia".[28] Three elementary schools and one middle school were also built in Richmond under Kaine.[29] Along withCommonwealth's attorney David Hicks, U.S. attorneyJames Comey, and police chief Jerry Oliver, Kaine supportedProject Exile, an initiative that shifted gun crimes to federal court, where defendants faced harsher sentences.[25] Though controversial, the effort gained widespread support and the city'shomicide rate fell by 55% during Kaine's mayoralty.[25][30] Kaine touted Project Exile during his 2001 campaign for lieutenant governor.[29][30]
On several occasions, Kaine voted against tax increases, and he supported atax abatement program for renovated buildings, which was credited for a housing renovation boom in the city.[25]Forbes magazine named Richmond one of "the 10 best cities in America to do business" during Kaine's term.[31]
According to John Moeser, a professor emeritus of urban studies and planning atVirginia Commonwealth University and later a visiting fellow at theUniversity of Richmond's Center for Civic Engagement, Kaine "was energetic, charismatic and, most important, spoke openly about his commitment to racial reconciliation in Richmond."[25]The New York Times wrote that Kaine "was by all accounts instrumental in bridging the city's racial divide".[17] In the early part of his term, Kaine apologized for Richmond's role inslavery;[29][32] the apology was generally well received as "a genuine, heartfelt expression".[29] In the latter part of his term, there was a contentious debate over the inclusion of a portrait ofConfederate generalRobert E. Lee in a set of historic murals to be placed on city floodwalls.[20][26] Many African Americans were outraged that Lee would appear on city walls, while Southern heritage groups demanded that the picture remain.[20] Kaine proposed a compromise whereby Lee would appear as part of a series of murals that also included figures likeAbraham Lincoln andPowhatan Beaty.[20] The NAACP criticized his stance, but Kaine argued that placing Lee on the floodwall made sense in context, and that "Much of our history is not pleasant; you can't whitewash it."[17][26] His proposal passed the council by a 6–3 vote.[20]
During his mayoralty, Kaine drew criticism for spending $6,000 in public funds on buses to theMillion Mom March, an anti-gun-violence rally inWashington, D.C.; after a backlash, he raised the money privately and reimbursed the city.[33]
_Oceana%2c_Capt._T.F._Keeley_briefs_Virginia%2527s_Lt._Governor%2c_Tim_Kaine%2c_on_the_cockpit_of_an_F-14_Tomcat.jpg)
Kaine ran forlieutenant governor of Virginia in2001. He joined the race after state senatorEmily Couric dropped out due to pancreatic cancer and endorsed Kaine as her replacement.[34] In the Democraticprimary election, Kaine ran againststate delegateAlan A. Diamonstein ofNewport News, and state delegateJerrauld C. Jones ofNorfolk.[35] Kaine won the nomination, with 39.7% of the vote to Diamonstein's 31.4% and Jones's 28.9%.[36]
In the general election, Kaine won with 925,974 votes (50.35%), edging out hisRepublican opponent, state delegateJay Katzen, who received 883,886 (48.06%).[37]Libertarian Gary Reams received 28,783 votes (1.57%).[37]
Kaine was inaugurated on January 12, 2002, and was sworn in by his wifeAnne Holton, a state judge.[38]
In 2005, Kaine ran forgovernor of Virginia against Republican candidateJerry W. Kilgore, a formerstate attorney general. Kaine was considered an underdog for most of the race,[39] trailing in polls for most of the campaign.[40] Two September polls showed Kaine trailing Kilgore—by four percentage points in aWashington Post poll and by one point in aMason-Dixon/Roanoke Times poll.[41][42] The final polls of the race before the election showed Kaine slightly edging ahead of Kilgore.[40][43]
Kaine ultimately prevailed, winning 1,025,942 votes (51.7%) to Kilgore's 912,327 (46.0%).[44] A third candidate,independentstate SenatorH. Russell Potts Jr., ran as an "independent Republican"[45][46] and received 43,953 votes (2.2%).[44]
Kaine emphasized fiscal responsibility and a centrist message.[42][45] He expressed support for controllingsprawl and tackling longstanding traffic issues, an issue that resonated in thenorthern Virginiaexurbs.[47] He benefited from his association with the popular outgoing Democratic governor,Mark Warner, who had performed well in traditionally Republican areas of the state.[41] On the campaign trail, Kaine referred to the "Warner-Kaine administration" in speeches and received Warner's strong backing.[45][48] Kilgore later attributed his defeat to Warner's high popularity and PresidentGeorge W. Bush's sharply declining popularity; Bush held a rally with Kilgore on the campaign's final day.[43]
The campaign turned sharply negative in its final weeks, with Kilgore running televisionattack ads that falsely claimed that Kaine believed that "Hitler doesn't qualify for the death penalty."[49] The ads also attacked Kaine for his service ten years earlier as a court-appointed attorney for a death-row inmate.[50] The editorial boards ofThe Washington Post and a number of Virginia newspapers denounced the ads as a "smear" and "dishonest."[49][50][51] Kaine responded with an ad "in which he told voters that he opposes capital punishment but would take an oath and enforce the death penalty. In later polls, voters said they believed Kaine's response and were angered by Kilgore's negative ads."[48]
In the election, Kaine won by large margins in the Democratic strongholds such asRichmond and northern Virginia's inner suburbs (such asAlexandria andArlington), as well as in the Democratic-trendingFairfax County.[48][52] Kaine also won Republican-leaning areas in Northern Virginia's outer suburbs, includingPrince William County andLoudoun County, where George W. Bush had beatJohn Kerry in theprevious year's presidential election,[53] and performed "surprisingly well in Republican strongholds likeVirginia Beach andChesapeake."[52] Kaine also defeated Kilgore in the burgeoning Richmond suburbs.[53] Kilgore led insouthwest Virginia and in theShenandoah Valley.[53]
Kaine was sworn in as governor at thecolonial Capitol atWilliamsburg, on January 14, 2006, the first governor sinceThomas Jefferson to be inaugurated there.[15]
Kaine was chairman of theSouthern Governors' Association from 2008 to 2009.[54]
On January 31, 2006, Kaine gave theDemocratic response to PresidentGeorge W. Bush's2006 State of the Union address. In it, he criticized the Bush administration'sNo Child Left Behind Act for "wreaking havoc on local school districts"; criticized congressional Republicans for cutting student loan programs; and condemned as "reckless" Bush's spending increases andtax cuts.[55] Kaine praised bipartisan initiatives in Virginia "to make record investments in education" and to improve veterans' access to veterans' benefits.[55] He criticized the Bush administration's conduct of theIraq War and treatment of U.S. soldiers, saying that "the American people were given inaccurate information about reasons for invading Iraq"; "our troops in Iraq were not given the bestbody armor or the best intelligence"; and "the administration wants to further reduce military and veterans' benefits."[55]
As governor, Kaine protected 400,000 acres (1,600 km2) of Virginia land from development, fulfilling a promise he made in 2005.[56][57] His conservation efforts focused onconservation easements (voluntary easements that preserve the private ownership of a piece of land while also permanently protecting it from development); a substantial Virginia land preservation tax credit encouraged easements.[58] From 2004 to 2009, theVirginia Outdoors Foundation (a quasi-governmental entity set up in 1966 to preserve open land in the state) protected more land than it had in the previous 40 years, a fact Kaine touted as his term drew to a close.[58]
As governor, Kaine established the Climate Change Commission, a bipartisan panel to study climate change issues.[59] The panel was shuttered under Kaine's Republican successor, GovernorRobert F. McDonnell, but revived (as the Governor's Climate Change and Resiliency Update Commission) under McDonnell's successor, Democratic GovernorTerry McAuliffe.[59][60]
In 2008, Kaine supported acoal-fired power plant project inWise County, clashing with environmentalists who opposed the project.[61][62]
In 2009, Kaine expressed support for tighter restrictions onmountaintop removal coal mining imposed by the Obama administration.[63]
In October 2006, Kaine signed anexecutive orderbanning smoking in all government buildings and state-owned cars as of January 1, 2007.[64] He signed legislationbanning smoking in restaurants and bars, with some exceptions, in March 2009, making Virginia the first Southern state to do so.[65][66]
In 2007, the Republican-controlledVirginia General Assembly passed legislation, with "overwhelming bipartisan support", to require girls to receive theHPV vaccine (which immunizes recipients againsta virus that causescervical cancer) before entering high school.[67][68] Kaine expressed "some qualms" about the legislation and pushed for a strong opt-out provision,[67] ultimately signing a bill that included a provision allowing parents to opt out of the requirement without citing a reason.[68]
In 2007, Kaine secured increases in state funding for nursing in theVirginia General Assembly and announced a 10% salary increase for nursing faculty above the normal salary increase for state employees, plus additional funds for scholarships fornursing master's programs. The initiatives were aimed at addressing a shortage of practicing nurses.[69]
After the 2007Virginia Tech shooting, in whichSeung-Hui Cho killed 32 people, Kaine appointed an eight-member Virginia Tech Review Panel,[70] chaired by retiredVirginia State Police superintendent W. Gerald Massengill, to probe the event.[71][72] The commission members included specialists in psychology, law, forensics and higher education as well as formerSecretary of Homeland SecurityTom Ridge.[71] The commission first met in May 2007,[71] and issued its findings and recommendations in August 2007.[70] Among other recommendations, the panel proposed manymental health reforms. Based on the panel's recommendations, Kaine proposed $42 million of investment in mental health programs and reforms, included "boosting access to outpatient and emergency mental health services, increasing the number of case managers and improving monitoring of community-based providers."[73] In April 2007, Kaine signed an executive order instructing state agencies to step up efforts to block gun sales to people involuntarily committed to inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment centers.[74] Kaine, who had been inJapan on a trade mission at the time of the shootings, received widespread praise for his quick return to the state and his handling of the issue.[75]
Among Kaine's greatest challenges as governor came during the2008 financial crisis;The Washington Post wrote that "perhaps his greatest success was keeping the state running despite [the crisis]."[75] Amid theGreat Recession, unemployment in Virginia remained lower than the national average.[76] During Kaine's tenure as governor, the unemployment rate in Virginia rose from 3.2% to 7.4%, a smaller increase than the national rate, which rose from 4.7% to 9.9% during the same period.[76]
As governor, Kaine approved about $3.31 billion ingeneral fund spending cuts, and after his term in office, the Virginia General Assembly adopted about $1.33 billion in additional budget cuts that Kaine had recommended, for a total of $4.64 billion in cuts.[77]The Washington Post wrote, "Unable to raise taxes and required by law to balance the budget, he was forced to make unpopular cuts that led to such things as shuttered highway rest stops and higher public university tuition."[75] Virginia was one of three states to earn the highest grade in terms of management in a report by the nonpartisan Pew Center on the States.[78] Virginia took first place each year from 2006 to 2009 inForbes magazine's "Best States For Business" rankings.[78]
In July 2007, during the debate on theSilver Line of theWashington Metro throughTysons Corner, Kaine supported an elevated track solution rather than a tunnel, citing costs and potential delays that would put federal funding at risk.[79]
In 2006, Kaine pressed the general assembly to support a legislative package to ease severetraffic congestion by spending about $1 billion annually forhighway construction, repairs to aging roads,mass transit, and other transportation projects. The money would be raised through increases in taxes and fees that would have raised an estimated $4 billion in revenue over four years.[80][81][82] The Democratic-controlled Senate supported the plan, but the Republican-controlled House was unwilling to approve the taxes necessary to carry out the project, and the effort failed even after aspecial session of the legislature was called over the stalemate.[83][84][85]
In 2007, Republicans in the General Assembly passed their own transportation-funding bill. Rather than a statewide tax increase to finance the transportation improvements, as Kaine and most legislative Democrats favored, the Republican bill called for transportation funding "to come from borrowing $2.5 billion and paying the debt costs out of the general fund"; authorized local tax increase in Northern Virginia; increased fees and taxes on rental cars, commercial real estate, and hotels; and increasedtraffic infraction fines and driver's licenses fees.[86][87]
Kaine and most legislative Democrats opposed the Republican legislation, calling it inadequate to address traffic congestion and arguing that the withdrawal of funds from the general fund would affect core services such as health care, law enforcement, and education.[87][88] Kaine ultimately signed a bill with amendments reflecting "concerns by local government officials and a bipartisan group of lawmakers who were concerned that the plan took too much money from the state's general fund."[89]
Under Kaine, participation in Virginia inearly childhood education increased by 40.2% due to his expansion of the Virginia Preschool Initiative, which makes pre-kindergarten more accessible to four-year-olds from households close to the poverty line.[90] Kaine sought increases to the budget for preschool programs every year during his term as governor.[90] Virginia was rated as the best state to raise a child in a 2007 report byEducation Week and the Pew Center on the States.[78]
Kaine made the following appointments to hisVirginia Governor's Cabinet:[91]
As governor, Kaine made a number of appointments to theVirginia state courts. He made two appointments[c] to theSupreme Court of Virginia,[93] namingChesapeake circuit judgeS. Bernard Goodwyn to the Court in 2007[95] andVirginia Court of Appeals JudgeLeRoy F. Millette Jr. in 2008.[92][d]
On September 27, 2007, just weeks after appointingEsam Omeish to the 20-member Virginia Commission on Immigration, Kaine learned that Omeish had made videosaccusing Israel of genocide and calling for President Bush's impeachment.[96] He immediately requested and received Omeish's resignation and said thatbackground checks would be more thorough in the future.[97]
In the2009 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election on January 21, 2009, Kaine was elected chair of theDemocratic National Committee.[98][99][100][e] He had turned down the position the first time it was offered to him, expressing misgivings about accepting a partisan position,[24] but took the job at Obama's request.[101] He served as chair part-time while continuing to serve as governor of Virginia.[102] Kaine's main goals as DNC chair "were protecting the party's seats in Congress during the2010 midterms and integrating the president's campaign apparatus,Organizing for America, and its technological acumen into the party machinery."[103] In the 2010 midterms, the DNC under Kaine's leadership outraised theRepublican National Committee (RNC) by $30 million,[103] but Democratslost control of the House andlost seats in the Senate amid theTea Party backlash. Kaine was not generally blamed for the losses.[103]
Kaine kept a low profile in the position in comparison to his counterpart, RNC chairmanMichael Steele.[102][104] He focused more on fundraising and maintaining party unity than on attacking political opponents.[104]
In February 2011, after Kaine spoke to union leaders inMadison, Organizing for America got involved inWisconsin's budget battle and opposed Republican-sponsored anti-union legislation. It made phone calls, sent emails, and distributed messages onFacebook andTwitter to build crowds for rallies.[105]
After completing his term as governor in January 2010, Kaine taught part-time at theUniversity of Richmond, teaching a course in spring 2010 at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies and another in fall 2010 at theUniversity of Richmond School of Law.[106] He said he had chosen to teach at a private university rather than a public university "because it would not have been right for a sitting governor to be seeking employment at an institution when he writes the budget and appoints the board of the institution."[107]
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After SenatorJim Webb's decision not to seek reelection, Kaine announced on April 5, 2011, that he would run for Webb's seat. He was initially reluctant to return to public office, but Webb, Senator Mark Warner, and other Virginia Democrats saw Kaine as the strongest potential Democratic candidate and convinced him to run.[34] Kaine named Lawrence Roberts as his campaign chairman.[108] Mike Henry was chosen as his campaign manager.[109] Kaine filmed announcement videos inEnglish andSpanish[110][111] and was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.[112] He defeated former senator and governorGeorge Allen in the general election.[113][34]
After the 2016 election, Kaine said he would run for reelection to the Senate in 2018. He expressed his desire to emulateJohn Warner, who represented Virginia in the Senate for 30 years.[114] He added that he would not run for president or vice president in the future.[114]
In his 2018 Senate campaign against Republican nominee and Trump allyCorey Stewart, Kaine had the endorsement ofThe Richmond Times-Dispatch, marking the first time in decades the paper had endorsed a Democrat.[115]
After taking an early lead in his race against Stewart, Kaine worked to support other Democrats who, in seven districts, were challenging incumbent Republicans for House seats.[116] Kaine defeated Stewart by more than 15 points.[117]
On January 20, 2023, Kaine announced his candidacy for reelection in 2024 at a press conference inRichmond. Members of theDemocratic Party were relieved by the news, as they believed his retirement would have made the race much more competitive.[118][119] Kaine defeated RepublicanHung Cao in the general election.[120][121]
Kaine made a surprise appearance on the November 2, 2024, episode ofSaturday Night Live. Guest hostJohn Mulaney portrayed a game show contestant who is tasked with naming people who walk on screen; he fails to give Kaine's name and is subsequently ridiculed.[122][123]
Kaine was sworn in on January 3, 2013, reuniting him withMark Warner, the senior senator. Kaine was lieutenant governor when Warner was governor of Virginia.
On June 11, 2013, Kaine delivered a speech on the Senate floor in support of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" immigration bill. The speech was entirely in Spanish, marking the first time a senator had ever made a speech on the Senate floor in a language other than English.[124]
As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kaine pushed for a new congressional authorization of military force for theAmerican operations againstIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[125] Kaine supported theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action withIran, though he also helped Republican senatorBob Corker hold a vote on a resolution of disapproval of the deal.[125] Kaine has taken several trips throughout theMiddle East, meeting with the leaders of states such as Turkey and Israel.[125]
While in the Senate, Kaine has continued to teach part-time at theUniversity of Richmond, receiving a salary of $16,000 per year.[126]
Kaine has voted with his party more than 90% of the time.[127][128] According toThe Washington Post, Kaine has "crafted a largely progressive record as a senator."[129] He reportedly has good relations with both Democratic and Republican senators.[130][131][132]
During the 2016 vice-presidential campaign, Kaine frequently criticized Donald Trump, saying that Trump "as commander-in-chief scares me to death" and had a "bizarre fascination with strongmen and authoritarian leaders".[133] In 2017, after Trump took office, Kaine continued to criticize his "authoritarian tendencies", citing his attacks on media, judges, and peaceful protesters.[133] At an event atGeorge Mason University, Kaine said that with Trump in office, Americans "are in a 'living experiment' to see whether or not the Constitution still works to check executive power."[134]
In February 2017, Kaine met withPope Francis at a general audience at theVatican. Kaine also met with theJesuit Refugee Service to discuss refugees and met with Vatican officials to discuss Latin American issues.[135][136] The same month, Kaine delivered an address, "TheTruman Doctrine at 70", at London'sChatham House.[136][137]
In January 2014, Kaine and SenatorRob Portman established the bipartisan Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus (CTE Caucus), which focuses onvocational education andtechnical education.[138] Kaine and Portman co-chair the caucus.[139][140] In 2014, Kaine and Portman introduced the CTE Excellence and Equity Act to the Senate; the legislation would provide $500 million in federal funding, distributed by competitive grants, tohigh schools to further CTE programs.[141] The legislation, introduced as an amendment to theCarl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, would promoteapprenticeships and similar initiatives.[141] Kaine and Portman introduced similar legislation, the Educating Tomorrow's Workforce Act, in 2017.[142]
Kaine announced his support forBarack Obama's presidential bid in February 2007. It was maintained that Kaine's endorsement was the first from a statewide elected official outside ofIllinois.[143] Because Kaine was a relatively popular governor of a Southern state, there was media speculation that he was a potential nominee forvice president.[144] Obama had supported Kaine in his campaign for governor, saying, "Tim Kaine has a message of fiscal responsibility and generosity of spirit. That kind of message can sell anywhere."[145] On July 28, 2008,Politico reported that Kaine was "very, very high" on Obama's shortlist for vice president,[146] a list that also included SenatorHillary Clinton of New York, GovernorKathleen Sebelius of Kansas, SenatorEvan Bayh of Indiana, and SenatorJoe Biden of Delaware.[147] Obama ultimately selected Biden.[148] It was later reported that Obama told Kaine, in breaking the news to him, "You are the pick of my heart, but Joe [Biden] is the pick of my head".[149] Obama later wrote that he had ultimately narrowed down the choice for his running mate to Kaine and Biden. He said, "At the time, I was much closer to Tim",[150] but Obama and his advisersDavid Axelrod andDavid Plouffe wondered whether voters would accept a ticket of "two relatively young, inexperienced, and liberal civil rights attorneys" and Obama felt the contrast between him and Biden was a strength, and that Biden's age and experience would reassure voters concerned that Obama was too young to be president.[151]
Kaine endorsedHillary Clinton for president in 2016 and campaigned actively for her in seven states during the primaries. He had been the subject of considerable speculation as a possible running mate for her, with several news reports indicating that he was at or near the top of Clinton's list of people under consideration, alongside figures such asElizabeth Warren andJulian Castro.[152][153]
TheNew York Times reported that Clinton's husband, former presidentBill Clinton, supported Kaine as his wife's vice-presidential selection, noting his domestic and national security résumé.[154] On July 22, 2016, she announced Kaine would be her running mate in the election.[155] Clinton introduced Kaine as her choice in a joint appearance at a rally atFlorida International University inMiami the next day.[156] The2016 Democratic National Convention nominated him for vice president on July 27, 2016.[157]
Kaine was the first Virginian sinceWoodrow Wilson to be on amajor-party ticket,[158] and the first Virginian to run for vice president on a major-party ticket sinceJohn Tyler in1840; he was also the first senator or former senator from Virginia to be on a major-party ticket since Tyler.[159]
In accordance with longstanding political custom in the U.S., upon being nominated for vice president, Kaine publicly released his fulltax returns for the previous tenyears.[160][161] He also publicly released medical records; his physician,Brian P. Monahan, theAttending Physician of the United States Congress, wrote that Kaine was "in overall excellent health."[162][163] In September Kaine published a campaign book co-authored with Clinton,Stronger Together.[164]
In Kaine's preparations for thevice-presidential debate in October 2016, lawyerRobert Barnett played the role of Republican nomineeMike Pence.[165] (During Pence's own debate preparations,Wisconsin governorScott Walker played Kaine.)[166] Pence was criticized after the debate for not defending Trump's comments,[167] while Kaine was criticized for being too aggressive and interrupting.[168] According toABC News, Kaine interrupted 70 times during the debate, while Pence interrupted 40 times.[169]
Despite winning a plurality of the national popular vote, the Clinton-Kaineticket lost theElectoral College, and thus the election, to the Trump-Pence ticket on November 8, 2016.[170] This is the only election Kaine has ever lost. Clinton-Kaine narrowly won Virginia, the only Southern state to vote for the Democratic ticket, a victory attributed in part to Kaine.[171]
In terms of political ideology,FiveThirtyEight gives Kaine an average score of −37 (−100 is the most liberal, and 100 is the most conservative).[172]FiveThirtyEight characterizes him as a "mainstream Democrat" and notes that his ideology score is very similar to that ofJoe Biden.[172] Three conservative groups—theAmerican Conservative Union, theClub for Growth, andHeritage Action—gave Kaine 0% ratings in the few years before 2016,[129] while the liberal groupAmericans for Democratic Action gave Kaine a 90% rating in 2014.[173]TheNew York Times wrote that "in hyperpartisan Washington, he is often seen as a centrist" while also describing him as an "old-fashioned liberal...driven by Jesuit ideals."[17]
Kaine, aRoman Catholic, personally opposesabortion,[174][175] but is "largely inclined to keep the law out of women's reproductive decisions."[174] He has said, "I'm a strong supporter ofRoe v. Wade and women being able to make these decisions. In government, we have enough things to worry about. We don't need to make people's reproductive decisions for them."[176] Kaine supports some legal restrictions on abortion, such as requiringparental consent for minors (with a judicial bypass procedure) and banninglate-term abortions in cases where the woman's life is not at risk.[177]
In 2009, Kaine signed a bill to create a"Choose Life" license plate, among the more than200 Virginia specialty plates already offered, the proceeds of which would partly go toHeartbeat International, a Christian organization that operates anti-abortioncrisis pregnancy centers.[178] Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America expressed disappointment in Kaine's decision.[178] Kaine considered such license plate messages a matter of free speech and added that the move was "in keeping with the commonwealth's longtime practice of approving specialty plates with all manner of political and social messages."[178]
Kaine previously criticized the Obama administration for "not providing a 'broad enough religious employer exemption'" in thecontraceptive mandate of theAffordable Care Act, but praised a 2012 amendment to the regulations that required insurers to providebirth control to employees when an employer was an objecting religious organization.[179]
In 2005, when running for governor, Kaine said he favored reducing abortions by "Enforcing the current Virginia restrictions on abortion and passing an enforceable ban on partial birth abortion that protects the life and health of the mother"; "Fightingteen pregnancy through abstinence-focused education"; "Ensuring women's access to health care (including legal contraception) and economic opportunity"; and "Promoting adoption as an alternative for women facing unwanted pregnancies."[180]
In 2007, as governor, Kaine cut off state funding forabstinence-only sex education programs, citing studies that showed such programs were ineffective, whilecomprehensive sex education programs were more effective.[181] Kaine believes that both abstinence and contraceptives must be taught, and that education should beevidence-based.[181]
As a senator, Kaine has received perfect scores fromPlanned Parenthood and theabortion-rights advocacy groupNARAL.[127][182] He has received a score of zero from theanti-abortionNational Right to Life Committee.[182]
Kaine "strongly disagrees" withCitizens United v. FEC (2010).[183] In 2015, Kaine joined a group of Senate Democrats in a letter toSecurities and Exchange Commission ChairwomanMary Jo White that said the ruling "reversed long-standing precedent and has moved our country in a different and disturbing direction when it comes to corporate influence in politics." They urged the SEC to requirepublicly traded companies to disclose political spending to their shareholders to "increase transparency in the U.S. political process".[183]
Kaine personally opposescapital punishment, but presided over 11 executions while governor.[184] He said, "I really struggled with [capital punishment] as governor. I have a moral position against the death penalty. But I took an oath of office to uphold it. Following an oath of office is also a moral obligation."[34] During his time in office he commuted one death sentence in June 2008, that ofPercy Levar Walton, tolife imprisonment without parole on grounds of mental incompetence, writing that "one cannot reasonably conclude that Walton is fully aware of the punishment he is about to suffer and why he is to suffer it" and thus that executing him would be unconstitutional.[185] Kaine vetoed a number of bills to expand the death sentence to more crimes, saying: "I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life or provide for public safety needs."[186][187] Some of the vetoes were overridden.[188][f]
On July 31, 2019, after Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr announced that the United States federal government would resume the use of the death penalty for the first time in over 20 years, Kaine co-sponsored a bill banning the death penalty.[189]
Kaine acknowledges thescientific consensus on climate change, and in a 2014 Senate speech criticizedclimate change deniers, as well as those who "may not deny the climate science, but ... deny that the U.S. can or should be a leader in taking any steps" to address the issue.[190]
Kaine has expressed concern aboutsea level rise (a major consequence of climate change),[140] and in particular its effect on coastal Virginia.[190] In 2014, he partnered with two Virginia Republicans—U.S. RepresentativesRob Wittman andScott Rigell—to hold a conference on sea-level rise and "local adaptation efforts to protect military installations in theHampton Roads area."[140]
Kaine endorses makingcoal energy production cleaner, saying that it is imperative "to convert coal to electricity with less pollution than we do today."[190] He has criticized those who "frame the debate as a conflict between an economy and the environment", saying that "protecting the environment is good for the economy."[190] Kaine co-sponsored the Advanced Clean Coal Technology Investment in Our Nation (ACCTION) Act, legislation to increase investment in clean coal technologies.[191] He voted against legislation to approve theKeystone XL pipeline.[191] Kaine supports the use ofhydraulic fracturing (fracking) to harvest natural gas from shale formations. He believes this will reduce carbon pollution.[191] Kaine voted against an amendment introduced by SenatorKirsten Gillibrand that would have repealed a provision in theEnergy Policy Act of 2005 that exempts fracking from the underground injection control provisions of theSafe Drinking Water Act. As a result, regulation of fracking remains in the hands of state agencies; the EPA cannot regulate it or require a federal permit.[192][193] Kaine supports exportingliquefied natural gas (LNG) to other countries.[194]
Like his fellow senator from Virginia,Mark Warner, Kaine applauded theU.S. Forest Service's plan to close most, but not all, of theGeorge Washington National Forest to fracking and otherhorizontal drilling activities.[195]
In 2013, Kaine supportedoil and gas exploration off the coast of Virginia, saying, "I have long believed that the moratorium on offshore drilling, based on a cost-benefit calculation performed decades ago, should be reexamined."[191][196] In April 2015, Kaine reiterated his opposition to the moratorium on offshore drilling.[197] In March 2016, Kaine signaled that his position was softening, saying he was "particularly struck by the material objections of the Department of Defense to the incompatibility of drilling with naval operations off Virginia's coast... I have participated in this debate for over a decade as a governor and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The DOD has been relatively quiet during this public debate and has never shared their objections with me before."[197] By August 2016, Kaine stated his support for a ban on offshore drilling, bringing his position in line with Hillary Clinton's and the Obama administration's.[197]
Kaine supports the development of solar energy and offshore wind turbines.[191] Based on his votes on environmental issues in the Senate, theLeague of Conservation Voters has given Kaine a 95% score for 2018, and a 94% lifetime score.[193] (At the time of his vice-presidential campaign, Kaine had an 88% score for 2015, and a 91% lifetime score.)[140]
In March 2019, Kaine was one of 11 senators to sponsor the Climate Security Act of 2019, legislation forming a new group within the State Department that would be responsible for developing strategies to integrate climate science and data into operations of national security as well as restoring the post of special envoy for the Arctic, which Trump had dismantled in 2017. The proposed envoy would advise the president and the administration on the potential effects of climate on national security and be responsible for facilitating all interagency communication between federal science and security agencies.[198]
In April 2019, Kaine was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions released into the atmosphere and expressing disagreement with the Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.[199]
Kaine strongly supportsfinancial regulation and theDodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.[129] In July 2016, he signed a bipartisan letter that "urged theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau to 'carefully tailor its rulemaking' [under Dodd-Frank] regardingcommunity banks andcredit unions so as not to 'unduly burden' these institutions with regulations aimed atcommercial banks."[129] The letter prompted criticism fromprogressives who viewed it as anti-regulation.[129][200]Democracy for America executive directorCharles Chamberlain called the letter "a lobbyist-driven effort to help banks dodge consumer protection standards and regulations designed to prevent banks from destroying our economy." Kaine responded, "it's important you don't treat everyfinancial institution the same. It wasn't credit unions that tanked the economy, it wasn't local community banks that tanked the economy, generally wasn't regional banks that did things that tanked the economy."[129] He also signed a letter urging that a requirement that regional banks report liquidity levels on a daily basis be loosened.[201]
In the Senate, Kaine has supported thenormalization of U.S.–Cuban relations and theinternational nuclear agreement with Iran.[202]
Kaine expressed support forIsrael's right to defend itself during the2014 Gaza War.[203] In September 2016, in advance of aUN Security Council resolution 2334 condemningIsraeli settlements in the occupiedPalestinian territories, he signed anAIPAC-sponsored letter urging Obama to veto "one-sided" resolutions against Israel.[204]
In 2015, Kaine expressed support for theSaudi-led coalition's airstrikes in Yemen againstHouthi forces fighting the government of PresidentAbdrabbuh Mansur Hadi,[205] but in 2018, he was one of seven senators to sign a letter toSecretary of StateMike Pompeo saying that they found it "difficult to reconcile known facts with at least two" of the Trump administration's certifications that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were attempting to protect Yemeni civilians and were in compliance with U.S. laws on arms sales, citing an inconsistency with a memo from Pompeo to Congress expressly stating that on some occasions the Saudi and Emirates governments had failed to adopt measures to reduce civilian casualties.[206] Kaine also condemned the Trump administration for its "eagerness to give the Saudis anything they want" after the administration approved the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia after themurder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.[207][208]
In July 2017, Kaine voted for theCountering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act that placedsanctions on Iran,Russia, andNorth Korea.[209][210]
In 2019, Kaine was one of 34 Senate Democrats to sign a letter to Trump urging him to reconsider cuts to U.S. foreign aid to theNorthern Triangle countries ofCentral America in the Fiscal Year 2018 national security appropriations bill. The letter said that Trump had "consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance", viewing it as a gift or charity to foreign governments rather than a tool to promote American interests andcollective security. The senators wrote that U.S. foreign assistance to Central American countries, by improving stability and alleviating poverty in the region, reduced Central American migration flows to the U.S.[211]
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In 2019, Kaine co-sponsored the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced byMarco Rubio andBen Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both thesea and airspace in disputed zones in the South China Sea.[212]
In 2023, Kaine and Rubio co-sponsored a provision in the annualNational Defense Authorization Act that a U.S. president cannot withdraw the U.S. fromNATO without Congress's approval.[213]
On December 30, 2023, Kaine criticized Biden'semergency sale of weapons to Israel during theGaza war, stating, "Why should the Admin bypass Congress on arms sales to any nation? Bypassing Congress = keeping the American public in the dark."[214] Some of Biden's closest allies in the Senate, including Kaine, were reportedly pressuring Biden to change his tactics inGaza.[215]
In 2024, Kaine expressed his support for an independent Palestine, saying, "Since Israel has made plain that it will not accept Palestinian autonomy, the U.S. should no longer condition recognition on Israeli assent, but instead upon Palestinian willingness to peacefully coexist with its neighbors."[216] In November 2024, Kaine was one of 19 senators to vote to block the United States' arms sales to Israel.[217]
After the 2016 presidential campaign, Kaine wrote an extensive essay inForeign Affairs outlining his underlying foreign policy philosophy.[218] According to Kaine, American foreign policy has suffered a lack of direction since the 1990s because the end of theCold War rendered irrelevant America's previousgrand strategy, which he identifies as theTruman Doctrine. This lack of grand strategy makes American actions seem random, complicating the policy-making process and hindering American leaders' efforts to convince the public that American foreign policy is worthwhile. To remedy this, Kaine proposed a new grand strategy based mainly ondemocracy promotion. His grand strategy is informed by atri-polar balance of international power, with one pole being democratic states including the U.S. and its allies, the second autocratic powers led byRussia andChina, and the thirdnonstate actors (multinational corporations,NGOs, gangs, etc.).
First, Kaine believes that the United States should work to support democracy in already democratic countries, as democracy globally has been declining for many years.[219] To maintain democracy in democratic countries, Kaine proposes the creation of anintergovernmental organization consisting of all the world's democracies in which states can cooperate on solutions to problems such as corruption and voter inclusion. He compares this hypothetical group to theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in which advanced industrialized countries collaborate on economic policy. Kaine believes that this new organization will help democracies remain democratic, as well as promote democracy in other countries by giving them viable democratic examples to emulate. In this way, Kaine says that the U.S. should no longer see itself as the indispensable nation, but rather the "exemplary democracy".
Second, Kaine proposes that democracies should coordinate to best interact with authoritarian states. Depending on the circumstances, democracies should either "confront", "compete", or "cooperate" with autocracies. For example, Kaine observes that the U.S. competes with its authoritarian adversaries by strengthening military and commercial alliances, and confronts them by decrying theirhuman rights records.[218]
Finally, Kaine believes that democracies and autocracies should cooperate when they have the same interests, such ascombating climate change.
In July 2017, Kaine expanded on the grand strategy proposed in this essay in an interview at theBrookings Institution with international relations scholarRobert Kagan.[220]
Kaine's website states, "The main mission in Afghanistan—destroyingAl Qaeda—is nearly complete and we should bring our troops home as quickly as we can, consistent with the need to make sure that Afghanistan poses no danger in the broader region."[221]
Kaine believes that American foreign policy has neglected relations withLatin America and argues for an increased focus onthe Americas, saying, "We have seldom paid enough attention to the Americas, in particular, and when we have—whether through the Monroe Doctrine or by battling communist movements during the Cold War—we have focused more on blocking outsiders from building influence in the Western Hemisphere than we have on the nations already there."[218]
Kaine is known for "expertise on the constitutional powers of the presidency"[171] and has said that "war powers questions" are a "personal obsession" of his.[222][223] He has stressed that under the Constitution, "Congress has the power to declare war—and only Congress."[224] Kaine called the 2018U.S. missile strikes Trump ordered against the Syrian government illegal because they were undertaken without congressional approval.[224]
Kaine and SenatorJohn McCain introduced the War Powers Consultation Act of 2014,[225] which would replace theWar Powers Act of 1973, bringing Congress back into decisions on the deployment of U.S. military forces.[225] The bill would establish a Congressional Consultation Committee, with which the president would be required to consult regularly regarding significant foreign policy matters before ordering the deployment of the armed forces into a significant armed conflict and at least every two months for the duration of any significant armed conflict.[225][226] Kaine argued for the bill by citing his "frustration" over the sloppiness of "process and communication over decisions of war", noting that "presidents tend to overreach and Congress sometimes willingly ducks tough votes and decisions. We all have to do better."[225]
In February 2018, Kaine was one of 18 senators to sign a letter to Trump arguing that strikingNorth Korea with "a preventative or preemptive U.S. military strike would lack either a constitutional basis or legal authority" without congressional approval.[227]
In January 2020, Kaine introduced a new war powers resolution that would prohibit the U.S. from entering hostilities against Iran within 30 days unless it was responding to an imminent threat.[228] The next month, theIran War Powers Resolution passed the Senate 55–45, securing the votes of eight Republicans along with the Democrats.[229] Trump vetoed the measure,[230] and the Senate failed to override the veto.[231]
In 2014, Kaine argued that the U.S. military intervention againstIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) undertaken by Obama was unconstitutional without a new congressional authorization for theuse of military force against ISIL.[232] In November 2014, at theHalifax International Security Forum, Kaine and McCain emphasized the necessity of such a congressional authorization, saying: "You just can't have a war without Congress. You can't ask people to risk their lives, risk getting killed, seeing other folks getting killed or injured if Congress isn't willing to do the job to put their thumbprint on this and say, this is a national mission and worth it."[233] After the April2017 Shayrat missile strike in Syria, ordered by Trump, Kaine said, "There is no legal justification for this. He should not have done this without coming to Congress."[234] OnMeet the Press, Kaine said, "I'm a strong supporter that the U.S. shouldtake action to protect humanitarian causes, like the ban on chemical weapons. Where I differ from this administration, and I took the same position with respect to President Obama, we are a nation that's not supposed to take military action, start war, without a plan that's presented to and approved by Congress."[235]
On December 11, 2014, after a five-month campaign by Kaine, the U.S.Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by 10–8 (along party lines) a measure authorizing military force against ISIL but barring the use of ground troops.[236][237] In October 2015, Kaine criticized Obama's approach to theSyrian Civil War, saying that the establishment of humanitarianno-fly zones would have alleviated the humanitarian crisis in Syria.[238][239]
In April 2018, Kaine criticized Trump for authorizing the launch of aprecision military strike on Syria without consulting Congress, calling the strike an "illegal military act".[240] In February 2021, Kaine demanded answers from PresidentBiden after he ordered airstrikes on Syria against Iran-backed militias without giving "legal justification" to members of Congress beforehand.[241]
In 2023, Kaine andTodd Young co-sponsored legislation to end 1991 and 2002 congressional resolutions that authorized the use of military force.[242] The bill repealed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq and passed with a bipartisan majority.[243]
Kaine is a firearm owner.[202] He has supported expandedbackground checks for weapons purchases as well as "restrictions on the sale of combat-style weapons andhigh-capacity magazines."[202][244] As governor, Kaine oversaw the closing of loopholes in Virginia law that allowed some who had failed background checks to purchase guns.[202] In the Senate, he has supported legislation that would require background checks for weapons sold viagun shows and via the internet.[202] He also supports legislation to bar weapons sales to suspected terrorists on theNo Fly List.[202]
In November 2017, Kaine was a cosponsor of the Military Domestic Violence Reporting Enhancement Act, a bill that would form a charge of domestic violence under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and stipulate that convictions be reported to federal databases with the authority to keep abusers from purchasing firearms within three days in an attempt to close a loophole in the UCMJ through which convicted abusers retained the ability to purchase firearms.[245]
In March 2018, Kaine was one of ten senators to sign a letter to Chairman of theUnited States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and PensionsLamar Alexander and ranking DemocratPatty Murray requesting they schedule a hearing on the causes and remedies of mass shootings in the wake of theStoneman Douglas High School shooting.[246]
In June 2019, Kaine was one of four senators to cosponsor the Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act, legislation that would ban suppressors being imported, sold, made, sent elsewhere or possessed and grant a silencer buyback program as well as include certain exceptions for current and former law enforcement personnel and others. The bill was intended to respond to theVirginia Beach shooting, in which the perpetrator used a .45-caliber handgun with multiple extended magazines and a suppressor.[247]
Kaine has a 100% rating from theBrady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence[248] and an "F" rating from theNRA Political Victory Fund.[249][250]
Kaine supports thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (Obamacare), saying in 2012, "I was a supporter and remain a supporter of the Affordable Care Act. I felt like it was a statement that we were going to put some things in the rearview mirror."[251] In 2013, he said that he agreed that changes to the ACA should be debated, but criticized Republicans for "wrapping them up with the threat" of afederal government shutdown.[252]
In 2018, Kaine and SenatorMichael Bennet proposed the creation of "Medicare X"—apublic health insurance option modeled afterMedicare that would be available on ACAhealth insurance marketplaces along with private options. The proposal is a more incrementalist alternative toBernie Sanders's push for "Medicare for All" (single-payer health care).[253]
In December 2018, Kaine was one of 42 senators to sign a letter to Trump administration officialsAlex Azar,Seema Verma, andSteve Mnuchin arguing that the administration was improperly using Section 1332 of the ACA to authorize states to "increase health care costs for millions of consumers while weakening protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions." The senators requested the administration withdraw the policy and "re-engage with stakeholders, states, and Congress."[254]
In January 2019, Kaine was one of six Democratic senators to introduce the American Miners Act of 2019, a bill that would amend theSurface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to swap funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the 1974 Pension Plan as part of an effort to prevent its insolvency as a result of coal company bankruptcies and the2008 financial crisis. It also increased theBlack Lung Disability Trust Fund tax and ensured that miners affected by the 2018 coal company bankruptcies would not lose their health care.[255]
In December 2016, Kaine was one of 17 senators to sign a letter to Trump asking him to fulfill a campaign pledge to bring down the cost of prescription drugs.[256] In February 2017, he and 30 other senators signed a letter to Kaléo Pharmaceuticals in response to the opioid-overdose-reversing device Evzio rising in price from $690 in 2014 to $4,500 and requested the company provide the detailed price structure for Evzio, the number of devices Kaléo Pharmaceuticals set aside for donation, and the totality of federal reimbursements Evzio received in the previous year.[257] In February 2019, Kaine was one of 11 senators to sign a letter to insulin manufacturersEli Lilly and Company,Novo Nordisk, andSanofi about increased insulin prices and charging that the price increases caused patients to lack "access to the life-saving medications they need."[258] In 2022, Kaine voted for theInflation Reduction Act, which would cap the price of insulin and allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.[259]
In August 2019, Kaine was one of 19 Democratic senators to sign a letter toTreasury SecretarySteve Mnuchin andHealth and Human Services SecretaryAlex Azar requesting data from the Trump administration on the consequences for healthcare if Texas prevailed inits lawsuit seeking to gut the Affordable Care Act. The senators wrote, "Upending the current health care system will create an enormous hole in the pocketbooks of the people we serve as well as wreck state budgets; therefore, we ask for data to help states and Congress better understand the potential consequences of the position the Administration is taking in court."[260]
In September 2019, amid discussions to prevent a government shutdown, Kaine was one of six Democratic senators to sign a letter to congressional leadership advocating legislation that would permanently fund health care and pension benefits for retired coal miners as "families in Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alabama, Colorado, North Dakota and New Mexico" would start to receive notifications of health care termination by the end of the following month.[261]
Kaine supports theDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) andDeferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs,[262] which allow up to five million undocumented immigrants to gain deferral of deportation and authorization to legally work in the United States.[202] Alongside Senator Mark Warner and many other members of Congress, he signed on to anamicus brief in support of the program in theSupreme Court caseUnited States v. Texas.[263][264]
Kaine also supports comprehensive immigration reform, which would allow persons illegally present in the U.S. to earn legal status by paying a fine and taxes.[202]
In July 2019, following reports that the Trump administration intended to end protections of spouses, parents and children of active-duty service members from deportation, Kaine was one of 22 senators to sign a letter led byTammy Duckworth arguing that the program allowed service members the ability "to fight for the United States overseas and not worry that their spouse, children, or parents will be deported while they are away" and that its termination would cause personal hardship for service members in combat.[265]
In July 2019, Kaine and 15 other Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, a bill to mandate that ICE agents get approval from a supervisor before undertaking an immigration raid or other enforcement actions at "sensitive locations" (schools, hospitals, places of worship, and courthouses) except in special circumstances. The bill would also require agents to receive annual training and require ICE to submit an annual report on enforcement actions in those locations.[266]
In 2006, Kaine campaigned againstan amendment to the Virginia State Constitution to bansame-sex marriage,[267] and in March 2013, he announced his support of same-sex marriage.[268][269]
In the Senate, Kaine co-sponsored theEmployment Non-Discrimination Act, which would bar employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[270]
In 2005, Kaine said, "No couples in Virginia can adopt other than a married couple. That's the right policy."[271] In 2011, he shifted his position.[272] In 2012, he said, "there should be a license that would entitle a committed couple to the same rights as a married couple."[273]
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kaine noted that his position on same-sex marriage was "at odds with the current doctrine of the church that I still attend." He predicted that theRoman Catholic Church would someday adopt his view.[274] In response, two bishops heading the doctrine and marriage committees of theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that the church's position "cannot change" and reaffirmed their opposition to same-sex marriage.[275]
In October 2018, Kaine was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Secretary of StateMike Pompeo urging him to reverse the State Department's policy of denying visas to same-sex partners of LGBTQ diplomats who had unions that were not recognized by their home countries, writing that the Trump administration's refusal to allow LGBTQ diplomats to bring their partners to the U.S. was tantamount to upholding the "discriminatory policies of many countries around the world."[276] In June 2019, Kaine was one of 18 senators to sign a letter to Pompeo requesting an explanation of the State Department's decision not to issue an official statement that year commemoratingPride Month or issue the annual cable outlining activities for embassies commemorating Pride Month. The signatories to the letter also asked why the LGBTI special envoy position had remained vacant. The authors said that the State Department's moves had sent "signals to theinternational community that the United States is abandoning the advancement of LGBTI rights as a foreign policy priority."[277]
In 2022, Kaine voted for theRespect for Marriage Act.[278]
Kaine supports allowing theBush tax cuts to expire for those with incomes above $500,000.[279]
In 2012, Kaine supported raising the cap on income subject for theFICA (Social Security) payroll tax "so that it covers a similar percentage of income as it did in the 1980s under President Reagan, which would greatly extend the solvency of the (Social Security) program."[280]
In the Senate, Kaine has supported theMarketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to requireonline retailers to collect sales taxes in the same manner as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.[281][282][283]
Kaine supported granting ObamaTrade Promotion Authority (TPA or "fast track") to allow him to negotiatefree trade agreements.[284] He said the goal should be to "negotiate deals that protect workers' rights, environmental standards and intellectual property, while knocking down tariffs and other barriers that some countries erect to keep American products out."[284]
In July 2016, Kaine said theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement was "an improvement of the status quo" and an "upgrade of labor standards... environmental standards... intellectual property protections", but maintained that he had not yet decided how to vote on final approval of the agreement, citing "significant concerns" over TPP's dispute resolution mechanism.[285] Later that July, Kaine said that he could not support the TPP in its current form.[286]
Kaine has been a proponent ofNAFTA.[287]
In 2025, Kaine introduced several resolutions to end the national emergencies Trump had declared to justifysweeping global tariffs. Kaine andMark Warner introduced a resolution to end Trump's national emergency on energy, but it was defeated by the Senate'sRepublican majority.[288] A resolution to end the emergency justifying American tariffs on Canada narrowly passed the Senate, but was blocked by the House.[289]
Kaine supports somesmart growth-style policies (which he calls "a balanced approach to growth") to controlsprawl and improve transportation.[290] He favors a transportation policy that includespublic transit, bicycles, and pedestrians.[291] As governor, Kaine pushed through a $100 million open-space acquisition initiative.[291] Under Kaine,Amtrak service in Virginia was expanded.[292][293][294] He also participated in a White House round-table discussion onhigh-speed rail in 2009.[292]
In April 2019, Kaine was one of 41 senators to sign a bipartisan letter in support ofU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 4 Capacity Building program, a program authorizing HUD to partner with nonprofit community development groups to provide support tocommunity development corporations. The letter said that the longstanding program had successfully promoted economic and community development, opposed the proposed elimination of the plan in Trump's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2020, and urged the Senate to support continued funding for Section 4 in Fiscal Year 2020.[295]
Kaine is "generally pro-union" and has received a 96% lifetime Senate voting rating from theAFL–CIO,[140] which praised his selection as Clinton's running mate.[296] But Kaine supports Virginia's longstanding "right-to-work" law, which "frees union nonmembers from any legal obligation to pay fees to a union thatbargains collectively on their behalf".[140]
Kaine supports theLilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which expands the cases in which worker can sue against gender pay discrimination.[297] After Clinton selected him as her running mate in 2016, Kaine was praised by theNational Organization for Women.[296][298]
Kaine favors an increase in theminimum wage.[140]
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In November 1984, Kaine marriedAnne Bright Holton, the daughter ofA. Linwood Holton Jr., the 61st governor of Virginia.[4][299] The couple met while they were students at Harvard Law School.[1] Holton has been a judge for theVirginia Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court in Richmond.[300] After serving asfirst lady of Virginia during her husband's term, she was appointed by GovernorTerry McAuliffe in 2014 to be Virginia's secretary of education,[300][301] and held that position until July 2016, when she stepped down after her husband was nominated for vice president.[302] The couple has three children, one of whom is aU.S. Marine.[15][8][303] As of 2016, Kaine and his wife had been congregants of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Richmond, amostly black congregation, for 30 years.[303][304]
Kaine plays theharmonica[305][306] and often travels with several.[17]
Kaine is fluent inSpanish as a result of his nine months in Honduras.[14] During the 2016 campaign, he became the first member of a presidential ticket to deliver a speech in Spanish.[171]
On May 28, 2020, Kaine announced that he and his wife had tested positive forCOVID-19 antibodies.[307] In March 2022, it was reported that he haslong COVID symptoms.[308][309][310]
On April 9, 2024, Kaine's book,Walk Ride Paddle: A Life Outside was published. In it, he chronicles hiking the 559 miles of theAppalachian Trail in Virginia, biking the 321-mile length of theBlue Ridge Parkway and kayaking theJames River from theAllegheny Mountains to theChesapeake Bay. He began these years-long treks in 2019 and did them during weekends and Senate recesses.[311]
About 145,000 emails from Kaine and his staff during his term as governor are publicly accessible at theLibrary of Virginia.Politico conducted an analysis of the correspondence and wrote that the messages show Kaine to be a "media-savvy" and detail-oriented "micro-manager" who is also a policy "wonk".[312]
According toThe New York Times, Kaine "is widely described by people in his political orbit as a likable if less than charismatic figure...guided by moral convictions that flow from his deep Christian faith."[17] OnMeet the Press, Kaine called himself "boring."[17][313]
Kaine has received the Humanitarian Award from theVirginia Center for Inclusive Communities, then the Virginia Region of theNational Conference for Community and Justice (2000),[314] the Virginia Council of Churches' Faith in Action Award (2009),[315] theUniversity of Richmond School of Law's William Green Award for Professional Excellence (2012),[316] the Award for Public Service in the Americas from theInter-American Dialogue (2014),[317] theAppalachian Trail Conservancy's Congressional Award (2015),[318] and theCenter for the National Interest's Distinguished Service Award (2016).[319] He was made a Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Isabella the Catholic in 2017.[320] He received the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) Maritime Leadership Award in 2024.[321]
2001 lieutenant gubernatorial election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kaine | 64,008 | 39.66 | |
| Democratic | Alan Diamonstein | 50,753 | 31.45 | |
| Democratic | J. C. Jones | 46,640 | 28.90 | |
| Majority | 13,255 | 8.21 | ||
| Total votes | 161,401 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kaine | 925,974 | 50.35 | +5.30% | |
| Republican | Jay K. Katzen | 883,886 | 48.06 | −2.10% | |
| Libertarian | G. A. Reams | 28,783 | 1.57 | N/A | |
| Write-in | Others | 490 | 0.03 | N/A | |
| Majority | 42,088 | 2.29 | −2.29% | ||
| Total votes | 1,839,133 | ||||
| Swing toDemocratic fromRepublican | Swing | 5.30 | |||
2005 gubernatorial election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kaine | 1,025,942 | 51.72% | −0.44% | |
| Republican | Jerry Kilgore | 912,327 | 45.99% | −1.04% | |
| Independent | Russ Potts | 43,953 | 2.22% | ||
| None | Write-Ins | 1,556 | 0.08% | ||
| Majority | 113,615 | 5.73% | +0.60% | ||
| Turnout | 1,983,778 | 44.96% | −1.4% | ||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
2012 U.S. Senate election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kaine | 2,010,067 | 52.83% | +3.24% | |
| Republican | George Allen | 1,785,542 | 46.92% | −2.28% | |
| Write-in | 9,410 | 0.25% | +0.15% | ||
| Total votes | 3,805,019 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
2016 vice presidential election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Pence | 62,984,828 (popular votes) 305 electors (30 states +ME−02) | 46.1% (popular vote) 56.7% (electoral vote) | |
| Democratic | Tim Kaine | 65,853,514 (popular votes) 227 electors (20 states +DC) | 48.2% (popular vote) 42.2% (electoral vote) | |
2018 U.S. Senate election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kaine (incumbent) | 1,910,370 | 57.00% | +4.17% | |
| Republican | Corey Stewart | 1,374,313 | 41.01% | −5.91% | |
| Libertarian | Matt Waters | 61,565 | 1.84% | +1.84% | |
| Write-in | 5,125 | 0.15% | -0.10% | ||
| Total votes | 3,351,373 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
2024 U.S. Senate election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kaine (incumbent) | 2,417,115 | 54.37% | −2.63% | |
| Republican | Hung Cao | 2,019,911 | 45.44% | +4.43% | |
| Write-in | 8,509 | 0.19% | +0.04% | ||
| Total votes | 4,445,535 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
One of the few marquee Democratic victors in 2005 was Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, an underdog....
It's becoming a tradition for winning gubernatorial candidates to make campaign promises to preserve 400,000 acres from development. Tim Kaine did it in 2005 and state figures show he met his pledge.
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{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Six days after taking office in January 2006, Kaine proposed an unsuccessful measure to raise $1 billion a year to deal with long-standing transportation woes. Trump's campaign points to a next-day article in The Washington Post that said the plan would generate close to $4 billion by the time Kaine's term ended in 2010. Kaine wanted to raise taxes on auto insurance and vehicle purchases in addition to increasing car registration fees.
Not long after taking office, Kaine proposed higher taxes on auto insurance and purchases, as well as higher fees for car registration and stiffer fines for driving offenses.The Washington Post estimated the higher taxes and fees would raise revenue of $1 billion a year, or $4 billion total over the four years of Kaine's term. The extra money would have been earmarked to ease the state's transportation woes — going to mass transit, highway construction and road projects.
The Virginia newspaper's endorsement marks the first time in decades the publication has backed a Democrat for statewide office, according to its website.
Kaine, far ahead in campaign cash and poll numbers over Stewart, has traveled this summer to all seven House districts where Democratic challengers — five of them first-time candidates — are taking on a Republican incumbent.
Tim Kaine (D) 15.71 point margin
Governor
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