Tim Kaine

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70^th Governor of Virginia
Tim Kaine

Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 2006
Lieutenant(s)	William T. Bolling
Preceded by	Mark R. Warner
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	February 26, 1958 (1958-02-26) (age 49) St. Paul, Minnesota
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Anne Holton
Alma mater	University of Missouri–Columbia Harvard Law School
Profession	Lawyer, Missionary
Religion	Roman Catholic

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. 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.

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

Kaine was born in St. Paul, Minnesota to Mary Kathleen Burns and Albert A. Kaine, an engineer and small business owner.^{[citation needed]} Kaine grew up in the Kansas City area and graduated from Rockhurst High School there.

He was graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia (AB, Economics, 1979).^[1] 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. ^[2] 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. ^[3]

Over 10 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 9 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.

For more details on this topic, see Project Exile.

In 2001, Kaine was elected 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.

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% to 46% ; Republican State Senator Russ Potts, who ran as an independent and was considered a longshot, received 2% of the vote. 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, ^[4] despite a notable barrage of negative advertising against him by the Kilgore campaign.^[5] 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.^[6]

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 VA tax on gasoline, have also been cited as key to his decisive win.^[7]^[8] 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.

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 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 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."^[9]

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 sheparded 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 spokeman 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

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.^[12] 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.^[13]

According to the Washington Post, Kaine has endorsed, and strongly supports, the 2008 presidential campaign of Democratic U.S. Senator Barack Obama. As a popular and successful governor of a southern state, Kaine might be a choice for vice-president if Obama wins the Democratic nomination.

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.^[14]

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 after he returned, 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.^[15] 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.

Main article: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

In July of 2007, the Washington Post and Associated Press reported that, according to a 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.

In December 2007, CNN reported that Governor Kaine was facing criticism for not allowing state police officers to help with Virginia's illegal immigration crisis. Governor Kaine has frequently been criticized as being soft on illegal immigration.

Virginia Gubernatorial Election 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tim Kaine	1,025,942	51.7
	Republican	Jerry Kilgore	912,327	46.0

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

^ New Jersey, Senate & Presidential Elections 2008 Results & Polls – NJ.com
^ http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-22-0096.html
^ http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/biography.cfm
^ VA: Kaine 49% Kilgore 46% - Rasmussen Reports, November 4, 2005
^ Washington Post November 9, 2005
^ Shear, Michael D. (October 18, 2005). "Kaine Sounds Slow-Growth Note in Exurbs". Washington Post.
^ "Death penalty demagoguery". (October 13, 2005). The Roanoke Times.
^ "RealClear Politics - 2005 Virginia Gubernatorial Election". Retrieved November 4, 2005.
^ Tim Kaine on the Issues
^ Tim Kaine Homepage
^ Tim Kaine Homepage
^ [1] The Commonwealth of Virginia's landowners favor land conservation although Virginia lags behind other state's per capita expenditures on land conservation. [2] 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.[3] In the 2006 elections, Kaine supported Democratic Senate Candidate Jim Webb.[http://www.webbforsenate.com/press/endorse.php Jim Webb for Senate Endorsement Page]
'''[[#_ref-12|^]]''' [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401556.html Washington Post [[September 15]] [[2006]]]
'''[[#_ref-13|^]]''' {{cite news | first=Tim | last=Craig | coauthors= | title= Kaine Says He'll Sign Bill Making Shots Mandatory |date=[[March 3]] [[2007]] | publisher= | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/02/AR2007030200117.html | work=Washington Post | pages= |}}
'''[[#_ref-14|^]]''' {{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043000556.html?hpid=moreheadlines|title=Ban on Sale Of Guns to Mentally Ill Is Expanded|date=2007-05-01|accessdate=2007-06-25|author=Tim Craig|publisher=[[Washington Post]]}}

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

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