Senator Tim Kaine

Tim Kaine, the junior senator from Virginia, is anything but junior. Kaine rapidly rose to electoral success and never lost a campaign until 2016. A firm moderate, Kaine represents the center of the party, and has built his brand on advancing education and foreign policy. He came to national prominence in 2008 when he was widely speculated to be the vice presidential pick for the Obama race. Kaine grew up in Missouri and went to the University of Missouri for his undergraduate degree, then Harvard Law school. He then worked as a civil rights lawyer and a professor in Virginia before he ran for his first elected position, mayor of Richmond, VA. He was later elected lieutenant governor then governor of Virginia and served as the chair of the DNC for two years before he ran for the senate, assuming office in 2013 and earning reelection in 2018. In 2016, Kaine gained national attention once again after he was selected as Hillary Clinton’s running mate, the first election he ever lost.


Kaine primarily sponsors bills relating to education, but he also frequently sponsors bills relating to labor and employment as well as international affairs. He is in favor of a public option for healthcare and expanding pre-kindergarten education. Kaine has served on Foreign Relation for quite some time, and has expressed concern over President Trump's decision to remove troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Since the 2016 election, Kaine has been a more vocal critic of the Republican Party. In one of his most recent decisions, Kaine called for the current governor and lt. governor of Virginia to resign.