Hillary Clinton has chosen Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as the Democratic candidate for vice president.

“I’m thrilled to announce my running mate, @TimKaine, a man who’s devoted his life to fighting for others,” Clinton said in a tweet Friday night.

Kaine, 58, is mainstream Democratic with a moderately liberal record from a key battleground state.

He previously served a term as governor of Virginia and mayor of Richmond. He backed Barack Obama, a fellow Harvard Law School graduate, over Clinton in the 2008 presidential race.

After his election, Obama picked Kaine to head the Democratic National Committee.

Kaine was at the helm when the Democrats suffered what Obama called “shellacking” in 2010, losing their House majority amid a Tea Party revolt following the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Kaine then ran for a vacant U.S. Senate seat in 2012 after Jim Webb retired. He won the race by six points.

He has national security experience, serving both on the Senate Armed Services Committee and foreign relations committee.

Kaine has largely compiled a liberal voting record but has some problems with the leftist Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party wing.

Clinton, as secretary of state, advocated for Trans Pacific Partnership but turned against it while facing pressure from anti-trader Sanders in the Democratic primary.

Kaine this week defended his support of TPP.

“Why would I not give to this president the same tools to negotiate a trade deal that other presidents have had,” Kaine said Wednesday.

Liberal activists also hammered Kaine for signing letters urging the Consumer Protection Bureau to ease some reporting rules covering community banks and credit unions.

Video: Will Tim Kaine’s selection as Clinton’s running mate excite progressives?



A Catholic, Kaine has voted consistently in support of abortion rights despite his personal objections.

He’s admittedly “boring–” and that’s precisely what Clinton wants.

“And I love that about him,” Clinton told Charlie Rose on Monday. “He’s never lost an election. He was a world-class mayor, governor and senator and is one of the most highly-respected senators I know.”

‘He’s never lost an election.’ - Hillary Clinton on Tim Kaine

Clinton had been mulling splashier options, including rising Democratic star Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and lefty crowd-pleaser Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

But after Donald Trump’s star-turn acceptance speech at the Republican convention Thursday night, Clinton isn’t taking any chances.

“After last night, she needs to make the safest choice possible,” a former senior White House aide told Politico.

He was elected to the Senate in 2012, with a promise of reducing unemployment among veterans, particularly those from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kaine and Clinton are broadly in agreement on most issues including restoring “fairness” to the tax code, protecting LGBT rights, and limiting assault rifles.

Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, who is Virginia’s Secretary of Education, have three grown children and are longtime residents of Richmond.