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Tim Kaine is Hillary Clinton’s running mate

Tim Kaine is Hillary Clinton’s running mate

Hillary Clinton announced her choice of running mate Friday evening: Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. 

Kaine tweeted the news, too:

And here’s the new logo:

Okay… so who is Kaine? Here’s what the campaign wants you to know:

The 58-year old U.S. senator from Virginia was first elected in 2012, is straight and married with three children. He’s also a former one-term governor of Virginia, and served one term as mayor of Richmond from 1998 through 2001. Kaine certainly knows politics, as he was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. Like his Chicago-native running mate, he is from the midwest, having been born in St. Paul, Minn. on February 26, 1958. He is almost ten years younger than Clinton.

In 2001 when he was a candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia, the Associated Press reported that Kaine was the only one in favor of granting certain rights to gay couples in long-term relationships. He said he supported the right of gay people in long-term relationships to enjoy what he called the “civil benefits” at that time were only available to married couples. While not supporting either civil unions or marriages at that time, he told the AP, “I do believe that people shouldn’t be kicked out of their jobs or discriminated against because of who they are.”

As head of the DNC, Kaine was caught in the same storm as the Obama administration for refusing to be pinned down on same-sex marriage. “The underlying issue is, should committed couples have the same legal rights and responsibilities, and the answer to that is an unequivocal yes,” Kaine said in 2012, according to the Washington Post. He noted that he had campaigned against a successful 2006 amendment adding a gay marriage ban to the Virginia Constitution. But Kaine would not at that time come out and support marriage equality.

He supported the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and changed his stance on adoptions by gay couples. When Kaine ran for governor in 2005, he said he opposed any unmarried couples — gay or heterosexual — being able to adopt children, according to the Washington Post.

Kaine is a Roman Catholic who “personally” opposes abortion but supports abortion rights and is opposed to the death penalty.

Want more? NPR tweeted some other interesting things it’s learned about Clinton’s running mate:

Friday night’s announcement came hours after Clinton addressed a rally of supporters in Tampa, Fla. Her campaign tweeted her remarks, as America and the world waited to learn about her choice of vice presidential candidate.

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