Democrat - Open Seat
Endorsed for U.S. Senate by Council for a Livable World

One of the most popular Democrats in the country is making a bid for the U.S. Senate in Virginia. Former Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine is running for the seat being vacated by Senator Jim Webb (D) in what is one of the marquee races of the 2012 election cycle.

For the past year, Kaine and his opponent, former U.S. Senator George Allen, have been neck and neck in nearly every public poll. Observers expect a close contest to the end.

Kaine has seized a fundraising advantage despite getting into the contest three months after Allen. At the end of the first quarter of 2012, Kaine had $4.4 million in his campaign treasury compared to $2.6 million for Allen. Outside groups have already spent more than $1 million against Kaine in television ads with millions more on the way. That makes Kaine’s smart spending and cash on hand advantage all the more important.

Kaine has other early advantages. While he is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, Allen faces a divisive primary competition that is pulling him to the right. In 2006, Sen. Jim Webb defeated Allen by .3% of the vote in one of the closest elections in the country. The Virginia race was the last in the country to declare its results, and thus was the race that switched control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats.

Moreover, Kaine was widely perceived as the winner in the only face-to-face debate with Allen.

Virginia, once a solidly red state, has now become a battleground state where both parties are competitive. As Governor, Kaine balanced Virginia’s budget during one of the worst economic periods in a generation. He cut more than $5 billion in spending while still finding funds to invest in key priorities like transportation projects and higher education. During the 2008 elections, Governor Kaine campaigned hard for Democrats across Virginia as well as for President Obama. His efforts helped deliver Virginia’s 13 electoral votes to Barack Obama. It was the first time in 11 elections that the state had supported the Democratic nominee for President.

Tim Kaine, who has never turned away from taking practical and progressive positions on tough issues, supports approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and new nuclear reductions negotiations with Russia building on the success of the New START Treaty. Kaine supports the goal of securing and retrieving vulnerable nuclear-weapons usable materials worldwide within four years.

As DNC Chairman, Kaine went on the record in support of the ratification of the New START, the nuclear arms reduction treaty.

“This treaty fulfills one of President Obama’s fundamental promises by moving the United States an important step closer to a safer, more peaceful, world that is working toward the elimination of nuclear weapons... I hope that we will see a strong and prompt bipartisan effort in the United States Senate to embrace this step forward and ratify the new START treaty.”

By contrast, Allen topped out at an abysmal 8% on Council for a Livable World’s voting scorecard during his 6 years in the U.S. Senate. Allen voted against an investigation of detainee abuses by the Bush administration, for the authorization to go to war in Iraq, for the nomination of John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and for building new nuclear weapons.

Born in Minnesota and raised near Kansas City, Tim Kaine grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s in economics, Kaine later attended Harvard Law School where he earned his law degree. He took a year off during his law school education to work as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras, where he put his ironworking experience to use as the principal of a technical school.

Kaine practiced law for 17 years representing people who had been denied housing opportunities based on race or disability and has been recognized as a fair housing advocate by organizations around the country. Kaine also began teaching legal ethics at the University of Richmond Law School, which he has continued to do throughout his career.

Kaine’s participation in politics began in 1994 when he was elected to the Richmond City Council. He went on to become mayor of Richmond four years later. During his two terms as mayor, Richmond saw a significant drop in the city’s crime rate and began building the first new schools in a generation.

Following his tenure as mayor, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and, in 2005, Kaine was elected Governor. During his term, the state was given a variety of honors including: Best Managed State in America, Best State for Business and a AAA bond rating for fiscal management. He left office with one of the highest popularity ratings of a large state governor in the country.

Governor Kaine isn’t just up against Allen. Crossroads GPS, a group within Karl Rove’s Super PAC, has launched a massive ad campaign against Tim Kaine and the Swift Board Veterans for Truth mastermind has created a new PAC to run attack ads.

Tim Kaine will be a valuable member of United States Senate who will fight for the issues that matter to Council supporters. Kaine has proven throughout his career that he believes in fairness and in practical optimism.

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