Tim Kaine wins VA Senate race by five points

Peggy Stansbery, Executive Editor 

Katie Farthing, Managing Editor 

Lujain Mohamed, Contributing Writer

Emily Grinstead, Contributing Writer

Virginia’s incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine won a Senate seat by five points, 52.7% of the vote, as of 11:24 p.m., according to the Associated Press. He ran for his third term against Republican nominee Hung Cao in this year’s general election.

Kaine celebrated his victory at the Hippodrome Theater in Richmond on Tuesday night because he said the city is where he started his campaign and his earlier work as a civil rights lawyer. He noted the theater’s proximity to the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, named after the first female African American bank president.

“African American women have made a lot of history,” Kaine said. “They just haven’t been recognized for a lot of history they have made.”

Kaine celebrated Virginia’s progress, going from a red state to a blue-leaning state.

“There is so much more work we have to do in Richmond, in Virginia, in this country, in this world,” Kaine said. “I’m very fortified by the strength and the energy and the enthusiasm that you embody and by the progress you have demonstrated.”

Kaine promised to serve all Virginians — whether they agree with him or not — and thanked them for electing him.

“I won’t embarrass you, I won’t let you down, I won’t cause you to lose sleep. We will keep moving Virginia and this country forward,” Kaine said.

Michael Beyer, Kaine’s communications director, said there was a lot at stake this election.

“There are two very different, contrasting visions,” Beyer said.

Kaine supports reproductive freedom, according to Beyer. Kaine introduced the Reproductive Freedom For All Act, voted in support of the Right to Contraception Act and Right to IVF Act and is against a national abortion ban, according to VCU’s Capital News Service Virginia Senatorial candidate guide.

Cao believes “life begins at conception” and was “thrilled” when Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to the CNS guide. Cao also supports access to IVF but doesn’t think the government should pay for it and said he would vote against a Senate bill limiting contraception access.

“I am pro-life. Make no mistake: The right to life is one of the biggest differences between me and Tim Kaine. I am the father of five children, and I spent a lifetime fighting for all Americans,” Cao stated on his website.

Abortion restrictions are in the best interest of the majority of Virginians, according to Cao’s website.

Abortion could be a deciding factor for many voters, according to Beyer.

“Your future is on the line as far as someone who looks after your reproductive rights,” Beyer said.

A majority of Virginians believe abortion should be legal in almost all cases, according to a Pew Research Center study.

Camden Shanks, a second-year kinetic imaging student at VCU, said healthcare is a top priority this election.

“Most important issue to me, at least, is to give people equal access to resources, especially health,” Shanks said.

Cao said he wants the medical industry to “innovate and compete in order to drive down costs,” according to the CNS guide. Cao said when the government runs health care there aren’t enough choices, expressing that “Medicare for all is Medicare for none.”

Kaine voted to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients, cap monthly insulin costs and provide access to free vaccines, according to the CNS guide. He also introduced the Medicare-X Choice Act to expand health care access and allow a choice between private or public insurance.

Beyer said Kaine is excited about two bills in particular regarding lowering costs.

“I think he is laser-focused on lowering costs,” Beyer said. “And there are two bills that he is excited about; one is a bill that lowers the cost of childcare, and then he also has another bill that would make it so that, if you use a Pell Grant, you can use it for current technical education and not only four-year colleges.”

Cao believes a focus on United States energy independence will drive down the cost of living and signed a pledge not to raise taxes, according to the CNS guide.

Kaine is co-chair of the Career and Technical Education Caucus, a bipartisan group of representatives committed to supporting and promoting career and technical education.

Supporting and promoting education and career development is a priority for Kaine, and he believes that is something students should take into consideration when it comes to this race,  according to Beyer.

“Sen. Kaine has supported efforts to lower the costs of college,” Beyer said.

Cao said it’s “unfair some kids get a free ride” in an interview with The Washington Post but wants to bring interest rates to zero.

“Sen. Kaine believes in climate science and is doing more to address the threat of climate change,” Beyer said.

Kaine supported the Inflation Reduction Act, which Beyer said is “the largest piece of legislation to address the climate crisis through creating more good paying jobs of the future, right here in America.”

Cao is not convinced about climate change’s existence and thinks “it’s arrogant to believe people can damage God’s creation,” according to the CNS guide.

Promoting the energy industry in the United States is a priority for Cao. He stated that the U.S. should not rely on other countries with “unclean practices” for energy production, according to Cao’s website.

“American energy producers have the cleanest practices in the world,” Cao said in a statement on his website. “Yet the Biden-Kaine administration continues to punish our domestic energy industry and force an American dependence on unclean foreign energy sources.”

Camren Lepper, a second-year business management student at VCU, said he voted for Cao and feels passionate about the economic state of the country.

“Bringing the jobs back to America and not selling as much oil out of state, more in America,” Lepper said.

Caitlin Phillips, a third-year art history student at VCU, said the environment is the most important to her.

“Nothing else really matters if the Earth is in flames in 10 years,” Phillips said.