Everything about Tim Kaine totally explained
Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine (born
February 26,
1958) is an
American politician and the current
Governor of Virginia. He is a member of the
Democratic Party.
Early life and education
Kaine was born in
St. Paul, Minnesota to Mary Kathleen Burns and Albert A. Kaine, an engineer and
small business owner. Kaine grew up in the
Kansas City area and graduated from
Rockhurst High School there.
Kaine graduated from the
University of Missouri–Columbia with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in
economics in 1979. He attended
Harvard Law School, taking a year-long break during law school to work with the
Jesuit order as a
Catholic missionary in
Honduras. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1983, and was admitted to the
Virginia Bar.
Kaine practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of their
race or disability. He was recognized by local, state and national organizations for his
fair housing advocacy. He also taught legal ethics for six years at the
University of Richmond Law School.
Over ten years into his legal career, in 1994, he was elected to the
city council of the
independent city of
Richmond from the portion of the city in which he resided under Richmond's system of nine
wards. He would later be elected
mayor of Richmond by the city council (which until 2004 chose the mayor from among its membership). He spent a total of seven years on the city council, including his time as mayor. The City of Richmond had been long notorious for having one of the highest murder rates in the United States. The trend had worsened greatly in the 1980s, and had continued into the 1990s. As mayor, Kaine was credited with helping to create and implement the
gun law known as
Project Exile. The controversial program was the predecessor of the statewide
Virginia Exile program.
Lieutenant Governor
In the Virginia general elections of November, 2001, Kaine ran for
Lieutenant Governor, and won with 925,974 votes (50.35%). His opponents were
Republican Jay Katzen with 883,886 votes, (48.06%), and
Libertarian Gary Reams with 28,783 votes (1.57%). Kaine was inaugurated on January 12, 2002. As Lieutenant Governor, he served as President of the
Senate of Virginia.
2005 Virginia election
In 2005, Kaine ran for and won the office of
Governor of Virginia in the November general election, defeating Republican former
Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore by a margin of 52-46 percent. Kaine has said he'll look to retain Warner's tax and educational policies, and keep the budget balanced, and soon launched a statewide series of town halls focused on transportation.
An underdog for most of the race, Kaine overtook Kilgore in some polls for the first time in October 2005, and held his lead into the final week before the election. While the previous Democratic Governor,
Mark Warner was credited with doing especially well for a Democrat in rural areas of the commonwealth, Kaine's win featured surprising triumphs in traditionally Republican exurbs like
Virginia Beach,
Chesapeake,
Prince William County and
Loudoun County in Northern Virginia as well as impressive showings in Democratic strongholds like
Richmond and
Norfolk.
Kaine closely associated himself with popular outgoing Democratic Governor
Mark Warner during his campaign, and won his race by a slightly larger margin than Warner. He promised homeowner tax relief, and centrist fiscal leadership but also proposed a large-budget program guaranteeing pre-kindergarten education for any family that wants it. A number of factors, from the sagging poll numbers of President
George W. Bush to a public disgust over the death penalty ads run by Kilgore have also been cited as key to his decisive win.
Kaine was inaugurated in
Williamsburg on
January 14 2006. This makes Kaine the first Governor since
Thomas Jefferson (in 1779) to be inaugurated in Virginia's colonial capital. Virginia's Capitol in
Richmond was under renovation at the time, with the process completed in mid-2007.
Kaine supports
smart growth, which proponents say concentrates economic growth. Critics argue it'll make the reduction of
urban sprawl and highway traffic a priority over economic growth.
Governor of Virginia
As Governor, he's a member of the
National Governors Association, the
Southern Governors' Association, and the
Democratic Governors Association. On
January 31 2006, he gave the Democratic response to President Bush's
2006 State of the Union address. In
his response, he claimed the Republicans failed to support bipartisanship in Washington and asserted the Democratic position that "There is a better way." He condemned Bush's spending and tax cuts as "reckless".
In March of 2006, after the General Assembly failed to create a budget, Governor Kaine called for a special session that didn't end until June. The debate was over Transportation issues and how to fund current and new projects. Most of the debate came from a battle within the Republican controlled Senate and House of Delegates. In 2007, Kaine heavily amended and signed into law a transportation funding and planning plan designed and shepherded through the General Assembly by the Republican Speaker of the House, William Howell.
On May 23, 2007, the Roanoke Times and other Virginia newspapers reported that the Kaine Administration was running a $300 million budget deficit. Kaine reportedly instructed agency heads to reduce spending. On August 2, 2007, the Washington Post reported that the Kaine Administration conceded publicly that the state's budget would run a shortfall in future years. The Post quoted Kaine's spokesman Kevin Hall: "We acknowledge -- heck, everybody does -- that the 2008-2010 budget period will feature slower growth than anticipated." On the same day, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that "The Kaine administration is expecting a shortfall in the 2008-2010 biennium but won't make it public until Aug. 20 [2007]."
In June 2006, Kaine signed an executive order banning smoking in all government buildings and state-owned cars. He also announced that Virginia will be the first state in the Union to digitize records from the Civil War Era Freedman's Bureau. This will open up research in African-American history after the Civil War.
In May 2006, Governor Kaine announced his plan to conserve of Virginia real property from development before the end of his administration as Governor of Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia's landowners favor land conservation although Virginia lags behind other state's per capita expenditures on land conservation.
(External Link
) As of 2007, according to government statistics, Florida spends $25 per capita on land conservation. Maryland spends $21. North Carolina spends $4.35. Virginia spends $1.45. Only 12% of Virginia's lands are currently protected at the federal, state, or local levels..
In the 2006 elections, Kaine supported Democratic Senate candidate
Jim Webb. Kaine also opposed an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would define marriage as that between one man and one woman, though he's publicly stated that he personally opposes same-sex marriage.
Tim Kaine has given his support for the mandatory vaccinating of 6th grade girls in Virginia with the
HPV vaccine and has recently signed a bill to that effect. He has dismissed all criticism, saying that the broad opt-out provision in the bill should resolve all of the concerns.
Death penalty stance
Despite his personal opposition to
capital punishment, often cited during the campaign by both sides, he's so far overseen four executions as governor as of November 2006. Before he was Governor he'd spoken in favor of declaring a moratorium on the death penalty "until it's fair."
He has vetoed five death penalty expansion bills although some of the vetoes were overturned., and opposed
electric chair as an option.
Abortion Stance
Tim Kaine has stated he's a "faith based opposition to abortion." He also supports promoting abstinence and opposes
partial-birth abortion.Tim Kaine is a member of
Democrats For Life of America.
Virginia Tech massacre
Tom Ridge began work on April 28th, and issued their findings and recommendations on August 30, 2007. On
April 30, Governor 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. Appearing alongside Attorney General
Bob McDonnell (R), Kaine said the order will help prevent people like the shooter from legally obtaining firearms in the future.
Vice Presidential speculation
The Washington Post, Kaine has endorsed, and strongly supports, the 2008 presidential campaign of Democratic
U.S. Senator Barack Obama. Kaine's endorsement was claimed to be the first from a state-wide elected official outside of Illinois to endorse Obama's bid. As a popular and successful governor of a southern state, Kaine might be a choice for vice-president if Obama wins the Democratic nomination.
Dulles Airport Metro controversy
In July 2007,
The Washington Post and Associated Press reported that, according to an Inspector General's Report from the U.S. Department of Transportation, costs to construct the first phase of the Dulles Rail project had increased from $1.52 billion in December 2004 to $2.7 billion, due to delays in starting the project. One delay, the report noted, stemmed from the Kaine Administration's study of an underground rail alternative in 2006. Although citizens and businesses preferred the underground option, Kaine eventually decided to proceed with an elevated rail. The report also warned that the project barely qualified for federal funding when its projected cost was $2.1 billion. In order to secure federal funding, Kaine in 2006 scrapped a plan that would have the Washington Metro go underground via a tunnel in Tysons Corner in favor of a cheaper, above-ground option. Numerous government agencies have studied the tunnel proposal, and Republican state lawmakers have tied up Kaine's transportation budget until federal funding is secured.
Electoral history
Cabinet
Personal life
Kaine is married to former Richmond Juvenile Court Judge
Anne Holton, who is the daughter of former Virginia governor
A. Linwood Holton Jr.. Kaine and Holton have three children, Nat, Woody, and Annella.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tim Kaine'.
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