Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia to seek reelection

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee and a fixture in Virginia politics for decades, said Friday that he would seek reelection next year, easing his party's worries about holding on to a seat in a state now led by a Republican governor.

Kaine, 64, said he had grappled with the decision to run for a third term because of the length of the campaign and six-year term. He said ultimately he feels like he has more to accomplish.

“I’m a servant. I love Virginia. I’m proud of what I’ve done,” Kaine said after meeting with about a dozen young advocates, state employees and political staffers at an economic development roundtable in Richmond, his longtime home.

Speaking with his wife by his side, Kaine said that President Joe Biden had not asked him to run again but that some of his Senate colleagues had done so.

A Kaine retirement would have been a blow to Democrats politically and practically in a swing state that is prized by both parties. A former Virginia governor and lieutenant governor, Kaine will enter the race as the early favorite in a must-hold seat for Democrats facing a tough Senate map in 2024.

While Virginia has grown increasingly more liberal over the last decade, Republican Glenn Youngkin pulled off an upset over Democratic former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the 2021 governor’s race.

Kaine is best known nationally as Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election, a race they lost to Donald Trump and Mike Pence in one of the most stunning upsets in U.S. history.

Kaine got his start in public office on the Richmond City Council, running in 1994 after becoming frustrated over what he saw as a lack of cooperation between white and Black council members. He served four terms, including two as mayor,...