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Timothy Michael Kaine (born February 26, 1958 in St. Paul, Minnesota) is an American politician and the current Governor of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is married to former Richmond Juvenile Court Judge Anne Holton, the daughter of A. Linwood Holton Jr., a former Virginia Governor. Kaine and Holton have three children. Following Thomas Jefferson's son-in-law Thomas Mann Randolph Jr., Kaine is the second son-in-law of a Virginia Governor to become governor in his own right.

Education and early career

Kaine, whose father was an iron worker and welder, grew up in the Kansas City area and graduated from Rockhurst High School, the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School, taking a year-long absence during law school to work with Catholic missionaries in Honduras. Following a career as an attorney in private practice, Kaine was elected to the city council of Richmond, Virginia. 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 7 years on the city council, including his time as Mayor. As Mayor, Kaine was credited with helping to create Project Exile, which reduced shootings in Richmond by 40% and was later adopted statewide.

Lieutenant Governor

In 2001, Kaine was elected the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, serving under Governor Mark Warner. Garnering 50% of the vote, he defeated Republican Jay Katzen (with 48% of the vote). He was inaugurated on January 12, 2002. As Lieutenant Governor, he served as President of the Senate of Virginia.

2005 Virginia gubernatorial election

In 2005, Kaine ran for and won the seat of Governor of Virginia in the November general election, defeating Republican former Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore by a margin of 52% to 46%; Republican State Senator Russ Potts, who ran as an independent and was considered a longshot, garnered only 2% of the vote. Kaine has said he will look to retain Warner's tax and educational policies, and keep the budget balanced, and immediately 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, * despite a notable barrage of negative advertising against him by the Kilgore campaign. 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's campaign made his association with highly popular outgoing Democratic Governor Mark Warner its central theme, as well as promising homeowner tax relief, centrist fiscal leadership, and a guarantee of 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 is under renovation, which is expected to be completed in 2007.

Kaine supports smart growth, which proponents say concentrates economic growth. Critics argue it will make the reduction of urban sprawl and highway traffic a priority over economic growth.

Governor of Virginia

As Governor, he is 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 decried the Republicans' lack of bipartisanship in Washington, and proclaimed, "There is a better way." He condemned Bush's spending and tax cuts as "reckless". Despite his personal views on capital punishment he oversaw as governor one execution as of June 2006.

Cabinet

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Governors of Virginia | 1958 births | Living people | American lawyers | American missionaries | City councillors | Current governors of the United States | Harvard Law School graduates | Roman Catholic politicians | Virginia politicians | Mayors of Richmond | Lieutenant Governors of Virginia | Irish-American politicians

Tim Kaine | Tim Kaine | Tim Kaine

 

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