Tim Kaine

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Tim Kaine

70^th Governor of Virginia
Incumbent
Assumed office January 15, 2006
Lieutenant(s)	William T. Bolling
Preceded by	Mark R. Warner
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	February 26, 1958 St. Paul, Minnesota
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Anne Holton
Profession	Lawyer, Missionary
Religion	Roman Catholic

Timothy Michael "Tim" 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. He is currently one of the most popular governors in the nation with a 69% approval rating. ^[1]

1 Education and early career
2 Lieutenant Governor
- 2.1 2005 Virginia gubernatorial election
3 Governor of Virginia
4 Cabinet
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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–Columbia 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 the gun law Project Exile.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, ^[2] despite a notable barrage of negative advertising against him by the Kilgore campaign.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5]^[6]

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.

[edit] Governor of Virginia

Gov. Kaine and U.S. Senator John Warner

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 opposition to capital punishment, he has so far overseen three executions as governor as of August 2006. He has, however, spoken in favor of declaring a moratorium on the death penalty "until it's fair."^[7] 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 October 2006, Kaine signed an executive order banning smoking in all government buildings and state-owned cars.^[8] 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.^[9]

In the 2006 mid-term elections, Kaine took the standard stances by supporting Democratic Senate Candidate Jim Webb.^[10] Kaine also opposed an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would define marriage as that between one man and one woman, though he has publically stated that he opposes same-sex marriage.^[11]

He is a member of the Capital-to-Capital Coalition.

[edit] Cabinet

Chief of Staff-William Leighty
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

[edit] References

^ Virginia Senate Rasmussen Reports, 7/27/06
^ VA: Kaine 49% Kilgore 46% - Rasmussen Reports, 11/4/05
^ Washington Post 11.9.2005
^ Shear, Michael D. (Oct. 18, 2005). "Kaine Sounds Slow-Growth Note in Exurbs". Washington Post.
^ "Death penalty demagoguery". (Oct. 13, 2005). The Roanoke Times.
^ "RealClear Politics - 2005 Virginia Gubernatorial Election". Retrieved Nov. 4, 2005.
^ Tim Kaine on the Issues
^ Tim Kaine Homepage
^ Tim Kaine Homepage
^ Jim Webb for Senate Endorsement Page
^ Washington Post 9.15.06

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Larry E. Chavis	Mayor of Richmond 1998 – 2002	Succeeded by: Rudy McCollum
Preceded by: John H. Hager	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia 2002 – 2006	Succeeded by: William T. Bolling
Preceded by: Mark Warner	Governor of Virginia 2006 – present	Incumbent