Breaking News:
Presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tapped Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. The announcement was made at a campaign event in Florida. Clinton’s choice comes after weeks of speculation and is a strategic political choice of a popular politician in a swing state that has moved from red to purple in the past few election cycles.
Senator Kaine is well-known to most Virginians as a Richmond city councilmember, Mayor, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. Did you know that Tim is originally from the Midwest and grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop in Kansas City?
He was educated at the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School and started his public service career by taking a year off from Harvard to run a technical school founded by Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. After law school, he practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in the representation of people who had been denied housing due to their race or disability. He also began teaching part-time at the University of Richmond in 1987.
Ally to LGBT Community
During his tenure as governor, Sen. Kaine promoted equal protection by banning discrimination against state employees on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation, veteran status or disability. After election to the Senate in 2012, he has advocated for the most vulnerable members of our society, fighting for voting rights, equal pay and fair treatment..
Sen. Kaine is a fierce LGBT ally, and feels that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, should be guaranteed equal rights, including the legal benefits and responsibilities of marriage. He campaigned against an amendment to the Virginia constitution that banned any legal recognition of same-sex relationships and signed an executive order to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
He joined other progressive Senators in signing the bipartisan amicus brief to the Supreme Court that detailed our belief that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Additionally, in November 2013, he helped the Senate pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to ensure that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation will not be tolerated.
Senator Kaine is also a supporter of a woman’s right to choose, reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and equal pay for equal work.
In choosing Sen. Kaine to be her running mate, Secretary Clinton has made a progressive choice and striking contrast to Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence.
