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Saint Paul roots, Virginia career: Tim Kaine’s path through public life

Born in Saint Paul, Tim Kaine built a political career in Virginia that took him from Richmond’s city council to the governor’s office, the U.S. Senate and the 2016 Democratic presidential ticket.

By KLGBT News Desk ·

Contextual Wikimedia Commons photograph: Built between 1894 and 1902, this Richardsonian Romanesque-style granite building was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke to serve as the United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House for St. Paul. The building occupies an entire city block between 5th Street, 6th Street, Washington Street, and Market Street, and sits next to Landmark Plaza, Hamm Plaza, and Rice Park. The exterior of the
Contextual Wikimedia Commons photograph: Built between 1894 and 1902, this Richardsonian Romanesque-style granite building was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke to serve as the United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House for St. Paul. The building occupies an entire city block between 5th Street, 6th Street, Washington Street, and Market Street, and sits next to Landmark Plaza, Hamm Plaza, and Rice Park. The exterior of the w_lemay — CC BY-SA 2.0

Timothy Michael Kaine was born in Saint Paul on February 26, 1958, but his early life unfolded elsewhere. His family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where he grew up before beginning the education and legal career that would lead him into public office.

Kaine attended the University of Missouri and later earned a law degree from Harvard Law School. After law school, he worked in private practice and taught as a lecturer at the University of Richmond School of Law. His political career began in Richmond, Virginia, where he won election to the city council in 1994.

Four years later, Kaine became Richmond’s mayor. He remained in that position until moving into statewide politics. In 2001, he was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia, serving from 2002 through 2006. He then won the 2005 gubernatorial election and served as Virginia’s governor from 2006 to 2010.

His time in Virginia state government was followed by a national party role. Kaine chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where the source identifies him as Virginia’s junior senator, a position he has held since 2013.

Kaine also became a nationally recognized figure during the 2016 presidential campaign. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton selected him as her running mate, making him the party’s vice-presidential nominee that year.

For Saint Paul readers, Kaine’s connection to the city is a point of origin rather than the setting of his public career. The available biographical record places his rise in public life almost entirely in Virginia: first through Richmond municipal government, then through statewide office and, later, the U.S. Senate. His story therefore links a Minnesota birthplace with a political identity shaped in another state.

The biography also traces a familiar progression through several levels of public service. Kaine moved from local office to statewide leadership, then to national party work and federal office. His legal training and university teaching preceded each of those roles, providing the professional foundation for a career that eventually reached a national presidential ticket.

Source and reuse information This automatically generated backgrounder adapts text from “Tim Kaine” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Kaine The adapted text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. The source article’s linked references are provided below where available. This story has not been independently reviewed or fact-checked.

Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/tim-kaine-running-senate - https://www.c-span.org/video/?410707-1/senator-tim-kaine-discusses-life-career - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/whats-a-nice-guy-like-sen-tim-kaine-doing-in-a-race-like-this/2016/07/13/f7965652-47a3-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html - https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/11/07/kaine-edges-out-katzen-for-states-no-2-office/bec3db88-a2ae-450a-9eae-b52395c284bb/ - https://news.virginia.edu/content/virginia-gov-tim-kaine-address-university-virginia%3Fs-class-2006-final-exercises-sunday-may - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tim-kaines-moral-convictions-and-political-ambitions/2012/10/18/38d473ba-0996-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html Image rights Photograph description: Built between 1894 and 1902, this Richardsonian Romanesque-style granite building was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke to serve as the United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House for St. Paul. The building occupies an entire city block between 5th Street, 6th Street, Washington Street, and Market Street, and sits next to Landmark Plaza, Hamm Plaza, and Rice Park. The exterior of the Creator: w_lemay. License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0). Original image page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAtrium%2C_Landmark_Center%2C_5th_Street%2C_Saint_Paul%2C_MN_-_51685123011.jpg. The image was resized for display; no other changes were made.