Tim Kaine

Timothy Michael Kaine
70th Governor of Virginia
Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 2006
Lieutenant	William T. Bolling
Preceded by	Mark Warner
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2010)
38th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office January 14, 2002 – January 14, 2006
Governor	Mark Warner
Preceded by	John H. Hager
Succeeded by	Bill Bolling
76th Mayor of Richmond, Virginia
In office 1998–2002
Preceded by	Larry E. Chavis
Succeeded by	Rudolph McCollum Jr.
Member of the Richmond City Council
In office 1994–1998
Personal details
Born	(1958-02-26) February 26, 1958 St. Paul, Minnesota
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Anne Holton
Alma mater	University of Missouri–Columbia Harvard Law School
Profession	Lawyer, Missionary
Signature

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.

Further information: Project Exile

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

Main article: Virginia gubernatorial election, 2005

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 will 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, and public disbelief that he actually would be successful in raising the Virginia tax on gasoline, 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 will make the reduction of urban sprawl and highway traffic a priority over economic growth.

Governor of Virginia

Gov. Kaine with U.S. Senators John Warner and George Allen

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 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 will not 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 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) 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. [1] 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. However, Virginia also has a higher proportion of its total land area under permanent protection than many other states, with about 12% of it currently protected .

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 has 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 has so far overseen four executions as governor as of November 2006. Before he was Governor he had 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.

Virginia Tech massacre

Tim Kaine, 5th from the right, along with Virginia Tech officials, receives a donation to the Virginia Tech memorial fund from East Carolina University given during the Hokies' 2007 football home opener

Main article: Virginia Tech massacre

When news of the Virginia Tech Massacre broke, Kaine aborted a trade mission to Japan and India to attend to the situation. In a convocation speech given on no rest after flying back from Tokyo, Kaine said he would appoint a panel of independent law enforcement officials to examine what the university knew about Cho and how it dealt with his rampage, which killed 32. The commission led by a former state police chief and former governor and homeland security secretary 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

Main article: United States presidential election, 2008

According to The Washington Post, Kaine has endorsed, and strongly supports, the 2008 presidential campaign of Democratic U.S. Senator Barack Obama. According to the Governor, he was the first 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

Main article: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

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 Dulles Rail had increased from $1.52 billion in December 2004 to $2.7 billion due to delays in getting the project commenced. One delay noted was the Kaine Administration's study of an underground rail alternative in 2006. Although the underground rail option was preferred by citizens and businesses, Governor Kaine eventually decided to proceed with an elevated rail.

The report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General warns that the project barely qualified for funding under federal cost-efficiency guidelines when the proposed budget was $2.1 billion. Current cost estimates now range from $2.4 billion to $2.7 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 but numerous government agencies have debated the tunnel during the approval process, and Republican legislatiors in the Assembly have tied up Kaine's transportation budget until federal funding is secured.

Electoral history

Virginia Gubernatorial Election 2005

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tim Kaine	1,025,942	51.7
	Republican	Jerry Kilgore	912,327	46.0

Cabinet

• Chief of Staff - Wayne Turnage
• Secretary of Administration - Viola Baskerville
• Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry - Robert Bloxom
• Secretary of Commerce and Trade - Patrick Gottschalk
• Secretary of the Commonwealth - Katherine Hanley
• Secretary of Education - Thomas Morris
• Secretary of Finance - Jody Wagner
• Secretary of Health and Human Resources - Marilyn Tavenner
• Secretary of Natural Resources - Preston Bryant
• Secretary of Public Safety - John W. Marshall
• Secretary of Technology - Aneesh Chopra
• Secretary of Transportation - Pierce Homer
• Assistant for Commonwealth Preparedness - Robert P. Crouch
• Senior Advisor for Workforce - Daniel G. LeBlanc

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.

External links

• Virginia Governor Tim Kaine Official state website
• National Governors Association - Virginia Governor Tim Kaine biography
• Virginia Public Access Project - Tim Kaine 2005 campaign contributions
• Follow the Money - Timothy M Kaine 2005 campaign contributions
• On the Issues - Tim Kaine issue positions and quotes
• Project Vote Smart - Tim Kaine (VA) profile
• Moving Virginia Forward Tim Kaine's PAC
• Democratic response to State of the Union MSNBC, January 31 2006, transcript of Governor Kaine's State of the Union Rebuttal