Timothy Michael Kaine is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 70th governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. Kaine was the Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2016 election as Hillary Clinton's running mate.
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Kaine grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School before entering private practice and becoming a lecturer at the University of Richmond School of Law. He was first elected to public office in 1994, when he won a seat on the Richmond city council. He was elected mayor of Richmond in 1998 and held that position until being elected lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2001. Kaine was elected governor of Virginia in 2005 and held that office from 2006 to 2010. He chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Kaine was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating former Virginia governor and senator George Allen.
On July 22, 2016, Hillary Clinton introduced Kaine as her vice-presidential running mate. The 2016 Democratic National Convention nominated him on July 27. Despite winning a plurality of the national popular vote, the Clinton–Kaine ticket lost the Electoral College, and therefore the election, to the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence on November 8, 2016. Kaine was reelected to a second Senate term in 2018, defeating Republican Corey Stewart. He was reelected for a third term in 2024, defeating Republican nominee Hung Cao.
