Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has chosen Tim Kaine as her vice presidential running mate, her campaign announced in a message to supporters Friday.
Kaine is a former governor of swing state Virginia and seen as a more moderate choice for the number two slot, with experience in both domestic and foreign policy as a former state executive and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Several news outlets reported that Kaine was Clinton’s top pick ahead of her announcement, with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a friend of the Clintons, also in contention. Kaine had been on the shortlist of potential picks for Barack Obama’s running mate eight years ago, and this time around had been reportedly backed by former President Bill Clinton, according to the New York Times.
Clinton had reportedly sought a running mate who would bring national security expertise to the ticket and told PBS’ Charlie Rose that she was “afflicted with the responsibility gene” and wanted someone who, if necessary, could serve as commander-in-chief.
Clinton considered several other candidates, including Vilsack, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and met with several candidates for the number two slot last week in Washington, including Perez and Housing Secretary Julian Castro, before ultimately going with Kaine.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a leader of the party’s progressive wing, had also been floated as a possibility and campaigned with Clinton after she secured the delegates necessary for the party’s nomination.
But Warren said ahead of Clinton’s announcement that she did not expect to be selected, telling late night show host Stephen Colbert in a pre-taped segment Sunday that “if it were me, I would know it by now. So probably not.”
Clinton is expected to campaign with Kaine when she appears in Miami Saturday before the party’s convention kicks off in Philadelphia next week.