5 Fast Facts About Clinton VP Pick Sen. Tim Kaine
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Hillary Clinton announced Friday evening that Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will join her on the Democratic ticket as their party's nominee for vice president.
A favorite since the start of Clinton's search for a running mate, Kaine is a former governor of the battleground state and former mayor of Richmond.
1.) Kaine was elected to the Senate in 2012 and serves on the Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations and Aging Committees. He is Ranking Member of the Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee and the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations and Bilateral International Development.
2.) Before he was elected to the Senate, Kaine was the governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. He was also the mayor of Richmond from 1998 to 2000. Kaine is one of only 20 people in America to serve as a mayor, governor, and a senator.
3.) Kaine has focused on climate change and its effects on Virginia, especially sea level rise and flooding. In 2014, he co-hosted a bipartisan conference that brought together policymakers, experts and regional stakeholders to discuss strategies to combat the threat. He also is passionate about the reduction of unemployment among veterans. His first piece of legislation in the Senate, the Troop Talent Act of 2013, established new standards to help active duty service members attain civilian credentials for military skills to assist their transition into the workforce.
4.) Kaine 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.
5.) Kaine is married to Anne Holton, who currently serves as Virginia Secretary of Education. A former legal aid lawyer and juvenile court judge, Anne previously ran Great Expectations, a program for more than 500 foster children attending Virginia community colleges.