Tim Kaine

Biography

Overview

Tim Kaine is a Democrat serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Virginia since 2013. Before his Senate career, he served as Virginia's 70th governor (2006-2010) and 38th lieutenant governor (2002-2006). He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2016 alongside Hillary Clinton. Born in Minnesota and raised in Kansas, Kaine earned a law degree from Harvard Law School and practiced fair housing law in Richmond before entering public service. He was first elected to Richmond's city council in 1994, then served as the city's mayor from 1998-2001. He was reelected to the Senate in 2018 and 2024.

Career

As governor, Kaine protected 400,000 acres of Virginia land from development through conservation easements and environmental initiatives. During the 2008 financial crisis, he managed significant budget cuts while keeping Virginia's unemployment rate lower than the national average. He signed legislation banning smoking in restaurants and bars, making Virginia the first Southern state to do so. He established the Climate Change Commission and secured increased funding for nursing programs. As senator, he championed a bipartisan immigration reform speech delivered entirely in Spanish—the first Senate floor speech in a non-English language. He has promoted career and technical education through a bipartisan caucus with Senator Rob Portman.

Prior political experience

Kaine was first elected to Richmond City Council in 1994 by a narrow 97-vote margin. He was elected Mayor of Richmond in 1998 by the city council's 8-to-1 vote. In 2001, Kaine won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor with 39.7% of the vote and won the general election with 50.35% against Republican Jay Katzen (48.06%). In 2005, he was elected governor with 51.7% of the vote against Republican Jerry Kilgore (46.0%), despite being considered an underdog for most of the race. In 2012, Kaine was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating former Virginia senator and governor George Allen. In 2018, he defeated Trump ally and Republican nominee Corey Stewart by more than 15 points. In 2024, Kaine was reelected to a third Senate term, defeating Republican Hung Cao.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal

Conservative

119th Congress-0.237

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1

+1

-0.112

Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 670 scored votes

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Officeholding history

Term	Seat	Term dates	Termination	Predecessor	Successor
3rd	U.S. Senate VA Class 1	2025–present	In progress	Tim Kaine	—
2nd	U.S. Senate VA Class 1	2019–2025	Term ended	Tim Kaine	Tim Kaine
1st	U.S. Senate VA Class 1	2013–2019	Term ended	—	Tim Kaine

Committee assignments

Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues
SenateRanking Member· 2025–present
Seapower
SenateRanking Member· 2025–present
Education and the American Family
Senate· 2025–present
Readiness and Management Support
Senate· 2025–present
Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism
Senate· 2025–present
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Senate· 2025–present
Employment and Workplace Safety
Senate· 2025–present
Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on Armed Services
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on the Budget
Senate· 2025–present

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

Year	Seat	Result	Vote share	Field
—	—	Pending	—	—