In terms of political ideology,
FiveThirtyEight gives Kaine an average score of −37 (−100 is the most liberal, and 100 is the most conservative).
FiveThirtyEight characterizes him as a "mainstream Democrat" and notes that his ideology score is very similar to that of
Joe Biden. while the liberal group
Americans for Democratic Action gave Kaine a 90% rating in 2014.
The New York Times wrote that "in hyperpartisan Washington, he is often seen as a centrist" while also describing him as an "old-fashioned liberal...driven by Jesuit ideals." but is "largely inclined to keep the law out of women's reproductive decisions." Kaine supports some legal restrictions on abortion, such as requiring
parental consent for minors (with a judicial bypass procedure) and banning
late-term abortions in cases where the woman's life is not at risk. In 2009, Kaine signed a bill to create a
"Choose Life" license plate, among the more than
200 Virginia specialty plates already offered, the proceeds of which would partly go to
Heartbeat International, a Christian organization that operates anti-abortion
crisis pregnancy centers. Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America expressed disappointment in Kaine's decision. In 2005, when running for governor, Kaine said he favored reducing abortions by "Enforcing the current Virginia restrictions on abortion and passing an enforceable ban on partial birth abortion that protects the life and health of the mother"; "Fighting
teen pregnancy through abstinence-focused education"; "Ensuring women's access to health care (including legal contraception) and economic opportunity"; and "Promoting adoption as an alternative for women facing unwanted pregnancies." In 2007, as governor, Kaine cut off state funding for
abstinence-only sex education programs, citing studies that showed such programs were ineffective, while
comprehensive sex education programs were more effective. Kaine believes that both abstinence and contraceptives must be taught, and that education should be
evidence-based. He has received a score of zero from the
anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee. In 2015, Kaine joined a group of Senate Democrats in a letter to
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman
Mary Jo White that said the ruling "reversed long-standing precedent and has moved our country in a different and disturbing direction when it comes to corporate influence in politics." They urged the SEC to require
publicly traded companies to disclose political spending to their shareholders to "increase transparency in the U.S. political process". He said, "I really struggled with [capital punishment] as governor. I have a moral position against the death penalty. But I took an oath of office to uphold it. Following an oath of office is also a moral obligation." Kaine vetoed a number of bills to expand the death sentence to more crimes, saying: "I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life or provide for public safety needs." Some of the vetoes were overridden. On July 31, 2019, after Attorney General
William Barr announced that the United States federal government would resume the use of the death penalty for the first time in over 20 years, Kaine co-sponsored a bill banning the death penalty.
Environment, energy, and climate change Kaine acknowledges the
scientific consensus on climate change, and in a 2014 Senate speech criticized
climate change deniers, as well as those who "may not deny the climate science, but ... deny that the U.S. can or should be a leader in taking any steps" to address the issue. Kaine has expressed concern about
sea level rise (a major consequence of climate change), He voted against legislation to approve the
Keystone XL pipeline. Kaine supports exporting
liquefied natural gas (LNG) to other countries. Like his fellow senator from Virginia,
Mark Warner, Kaine applauded the
U.S. Forest Service's plan to close most, but not all, of the
George Washington National Forest to fracking and other
horizontal drilling activities. In 2013, Kaine supported
oil and gas exploration off the coast of Virginia, saying, "I have long believed that the moratorium on offshore drilling, based on a cost-benefit calculation performed decades ago, should be reexamined." In April 2015, Kaine reiterated his opposition to the moratorium on offshore drilling. In March 2016, Kaine signaled that his position was softening, saying he was "particularly struck by the material objections of the Department of Defense to the incompatibility of drilling with naval operations off Virginia's coast... I have participated in this debate for over a decade as a governor and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The DOD has been relatively quiet during this public debate and has never shared their objections with me before." In April 2019, Kaine was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions released into the atmosphere and expressing disagreement with the Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Financial regulation Kaine strongly supports
financial regulation and the
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Democracy for America executive director
Charles Chamberlain called the letter "a lobbyist-driven effort to help banks dodge consumer protection standards and regulations designed to prevent banks from destroying our economy." Kaine responded, "it's important you don't treat every
financial institution the same. It wasn't credit unions that tanked the economy, it wasn't local community banks that tanked the economy, generally wasn't regional banks that did things that tanked the economy."
Foreign and defense policy In the Senate, Kaine has supported the
normalization of U.S.–Cuban relations and the
international nuclear agreement with Iran. Kaine expressed support for
Israel's right to defend itself during the
2014 Gaza War. In September 2016, in advance of a
UN Security Council resolution 2334 condemning
Israeli settlements in the occupied
Palestinian territories, he signed an
AIPAC-sponsored letter urging Obama to veto "one-sided" resolutions against Israel. In 2015, Kaine expressed support for the
Saudi-led coalition's airstrikes in Yemen against
Houthi forces fighting the government of President
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, but in 2018, he was one of seven senators to sign a letter to
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying that they found it "difficult to reconcile known facts with at least two" of the Trump administration's certifications that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were attempting to protect Yemeni civilians and were in compliance with U.S. laws on arms sales, citing an inconsistency with a memo from Pompeo to Congress expressly stating that on some occasions the Saudi and Emirates governments had failed to adopt measures to reduce civilian casualties. Kaine also condemned the Trump administration for its "eagerness to give the Saudis anything they want" after the administration approved the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia after the
murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. In July 2017, Kaine voted for the
Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act that placed
sanctions on Iran,
Russia, and
North Korea. In 2019, Kaine was one of 34 Senate Democrats to sign a letter to Trump urging him to reconsider cuts to U.S. foreign aid to the
Northern Triangle countries of
Central America in the Fiscal Year 2018 national security appropriations bill. The letter said that Trump had "consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance", viewing it as a gift or charity to foreign governments rather than a tool to promote American interests and
collective security. The senators wrote that U.S. foreign assistance to Central American countries, by improving stability and alleviating poverty in the region, reduced Central American migration flows to the U.S. and
Nancy Pelosi on June 10, 2022 In 2019, Kaine co-sponsored the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by
Marco Rubio and
Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the
sea and airspace in disputed zones in the South China Sea. In 2023, Kaine and Rubio co-sponsored a provision in the annual
National Defense Authorization Act that a U.S. president cannot withdraw the U.S. from
NATO without Congress's approval. On December 30, 2023, Kaine criticized Biden's
emergency sale of weapons to Israel during the
Gaza war, stating, "Why should the Admin bypass Congress on arms sales to any nation? Bypassing Congress = keeping the American public in the dark." Some of Biden's closest allies in the Senate, including Kaine, were reportedly pressuring Biden to change his tactics in
Gaza. In 2024, Kaine expressed his support for an independent Palestine, saying, "Since Israel has made plain that it will not accept Palestinian autonomy, the U.S. should no longer condition recognition on Israeli assent, but instead upon Palestinian willingness to peacefully coexist with its neighbors." In November 2024, Kaine was one of 19 senators to vote to block the United States' arms sales to Israel.
Grand strategy and democracy promotion After the 2016 presidential campaign, Kaine wrote an extensive essay in
Foreign Affairs outlining his underlying foreign policy philosophy. According to Kaine, American foreign policy has suffered a lack of direction since the 1990s because the end of the
Cold War rendered irrelevant America's previous
grand strategy, which he identifies as the
Truman Doctrine. This lack of grand strategy makes American actions seem random, complicating the policy-making process and hindering American leaders' efforts to convince the public that American foreign policy is worthwhile. To remedy this, Kaine proposed a new grand strategy based mainly on
democracy promotion. His grand strategy is informed by a
tri-polar balance of international power, with one pole being democratic states including the U.S. and its allies, the second autocratic powers led by
Russia and
China, and the third
nonstate actors (multinational corporations,
NGOs, gangs, etc.). First, Kaine believes that the United States should work to support democracy in already democratic countries, as democracy globally has been declining for many years. To maintain democracy in democratic countries, Kaine proposes the creation of an
intergovernmental organization consisting of all the world's democracies in which states can cooperate on solutions to problems such as corruption and voter inclusion. He compares this hypothetical group to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in which advanced industrialized countries collaborate on economic policy. Kaine believes that this new organization will help democracies remain democratic, as well as promote democracy in other countries by giving them viable democratic examples to emulate. In this way, Kaine says that the U.S. should no longer see itself as the indispensable nation, but rather the "exemplary democracy". Second, Kaine proposes that democracies should coordinate to best interact with authoritarian states. Depending on the circumstances, democracies should either "confront", "compete", or "cooperate" with autocracies. For example, Kaine observes that the U.S. competes with its authoritarian adversaries by strengthening military and commercial alliances, and confronts them by decrying their
human rights records.
Afghanistan Kaine's website states, "The main mission in Afghanistan—destroying
Al Qaeda—is nearly complete and we should bring our troops home as quickly as we can, consistent with the need to make sure that Afghanistan poses no danger in the broader region."
Latin America Kaine believes that American foreign policy has neglected relations with
Latin America and argues for an increased focus on
the Americas, saying, "We have seldom paid enough attention to the Americas, in particular, and when we have—whether through the Monroe Doctrine or by battling communist movements during the Cold War—we have focused more on blocking outsiders from building influence in the Western Hemisphere than we have on the nations already there." He has stressed that under the Constitution, "Congress has the power to declare war—and only Congress." Kaine called the 2018
U.S. missile strikes Trump ordered against the Syrian government illegal because they were undertaken without congressional approval. which would replace the
War Powers Act of 1973, bringing Congress back into decisions on the deployment of U.S. military forces. Kaine argued for the bill by citing his "frustration" over the sloppiness of "process and communication over decisions of war", noting that "presidents tend to overreach and Congress sometimes willingly ducks tough votes and decisions. We all have to do better." In January 2020, Kaine introduced a new war powers resolution that would prohibit the U.S. from entering hostilities against Iran within 30 days unless it was responding to an imminent threat. The next month, the
Iran War Powers Resolution passed the Senate 55–45, securing the votes of eight Republicans along with the Democrats. Trump vetoed the measure, and the Senate failed to override the veto. In December 2025, Kaine sponsored S.J. Res. 98, "A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress". In January 2026, it advanced to a floor vote in the Senate.
Syria, Iraq, and ISIL In 2014, Kaine argued that the U.S. military intervention against
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) undertaken by Obama was unconstitutional without a new congressional authorization for the
use of military force against ISIL. In November 2014, at the
Halifax International Security Forum, Kaine and McCain emphasized the necessity of such a congressional authorization, saying: "You just can't have a war without Congress. You can't ask people to risk their lives, risk getting killed, seeing other folks getting killed or injured if Congress isn't willing to do the job to put their thumbprint on this and say, this is a national mission and worth it." After the April
2017 Shayrat missile strike in Syria, ordered by Trump, Kaine said, "There is no legal justification for this. He should not have done this without coming to Congress." On
Meet the Press, Kaine said, "I'm a strong supporter that the U.S. should
take action to protect humanitarian causes, like the ban on chemical weapons. Where I differ from this administration, and I took the same position with respect to President Obama, we are a nation that's not supposed to take military action, start war, without a plan that's presented to and approved by Congress." On December 11, 2014, after a five-month campaign by Kaine, the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by 10–8 (along party lines) a measure authorizing military force against ISIL but barring the use of ground troops. In October 2015, Kaine criticized Obama's approach to the
Syrian Civil War, saying that the establishment of humanitarian
no-fly zones would have alleviated the humanitarian crisis in Syria. In April 2018, Kaine criticized Trump for authorizing the launch of a
precision military strike on Syria without consulting Congress, calling the strike an "illegal military act". In February 2021, Kaine demanded answers from President
Biden after he ordered airstrikes on Syria against Iran-backed militias without giving "legal justification" to members of Congress beforehand. In 2023, Kaine and
Todd Young co-sponsored legislation to end 1991 and 2002 congressional resolutions that authorized the use of military force. The bill repealed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq and passed with a bipartisan majority.
Firearms Kaine is a firearm owner. As governor, Kaine oversaw the closing of loopholes in Virginia law that allowed some who had failed background checks to purchase guns. In March 2018, Kaine was one of ten senators to sign a letter to Chairman of the
United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Lamar Alexander and ranking Democrat
Patty Murray requesting they schedule a hearing on the causes and remedies of mass shootings in the wake of the
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In June 2019, Kaine was one of four senators to cosponsor the Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act, legislation that would ban suppressors being imported, sold, made, sent elsewhere or possessed and grant a silencer buyback program as well as include certain exceptions for current and former law enforcement personnel and others. The bill was intended to respond to the
Virginia Beach shooting, in which the perpetrator used a .45-caliber handgun with multiple extended magazines and a suppressor. Kaine has a 100% rating from the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and an "F" rating from the
NRA Political Victory Fund.
Health care Kaine supports the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (Obamacare), saying in 2012, "I was a supporter and remain a supporter of the Affordable Care Act. I felt like it was a statement that we were going to put some things in the rearview mirror." In 2013, he said that he agreed that changes to the ACA should be debated, but criticized Republicans for "wrapping them up with the threat" of a
federal government shutdown. In 2018, Kaine and Senator
Michael Bennet proposed the creation of "Medicare X"—a
public health insurance option modeled after
Medicare that would be available on ACA
health insurance marketplaces along with private options. The proposal is a more incrementalist alternative to
Bernie Sanders's push for "
Medicare for All" (single-payer health care). In December 2018, Kaine was one of 42 senators to sign a letter to Trump administration officials
Alex Azar,
Seema Verma, and
Steve Mnuchin arguing that the administration was improperly using Section 1332 of the ACA to authorize states to "increase health care costs for millions of consumers while weakening protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions." The senators requested the administration withdraw the policy and "re-engage with stakeholders, states, and Congress." In January 2019, Kaine was one of six Democratic senators to introduce the American Miners Act of 2019, a bill that would amend the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to swap funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the 1974 Pension Plan as part of an effort to prevent its insolvency as a result of coal company bankruptcies and the
2008 financial crisis. It also increased the
Black Lung Disability Trust Fund tax and ensured that miners affected by the 2018 coal company bankruptcies would not lose their health care. In December 2016, Kaine was one of 17 senators to sign a letter to Trump asking him to fulfill a campaign pledge to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. In February 2017, he and 30 other senators signed a letter to Kaléo Pharmaceuticals in response to the opioid-overdose-reversing device Evzio rising in price from $690 in 2014 to $4,500 and requested the company provide the detailed price structure for Evzio, the number of devices Kaléo Pharmaceuticals set aside for donation, and the totality of federal reimbursements Evzio received in the previous year. In February 2019, Kaine was one of 11 senators to sign a letter to insulin manufacturers
Eli Lilly and Company,
Novo Nordisk, and
Sanofi about increased insulin prices and charging that the price increases caused patients to lack "access to the life-saving medications they need." In 2022, Kaine voted for the
Inflation Reduction Act, which would cap the price of insulin and allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. In August 2019, Kaine was one of 19 Democratic senators to sign a letter to
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar requesting data from the Trump administration on the consequences for healthcare if Texas prevailed in
its lawsuit seeking to gut the Affordable Care Act. The senators wrote, "Upending the current health care system will create an enormous hole in the pocketbooks of the people we serve as well as wreck state budgets; therefore, we ask for data to help states and Congress better understand the potential consequences of the position the Administration is taking in court." In September 2019, amid discussions to prevent a government shutdown, Kaine was one of six Democratic senators to sign a letter to congressional leadership advocating legislation that would permanently fund health care and pension benefits for retired coal miners as "families in Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alabama, Colorado, North Dakota and New Mexico" would start to receive notifications of health care termination by the end of the following month. In November 2025, Kaine was one of eight Senate Democrats who voted to end the
2025 federal government shutdown without extending
Affordable Care Act subsidies. He said: "This deal guarantees a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren't willing to do. Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don't, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will". In December 2025, 51 senators voted to extend the subsidies, fewer than the 60 needed to advance the bill. On January 1, 2026, the subsidies expired.
Immigration Kaine supports the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and
Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs, which allow up to five million undocumented immigrants to gain deferral of deportation and authorization to legally work in the United States. Kaine also supports comprehensive immigration reform, which would allow persons illegally present in the U.S. to earn legal status by paying a fine and taxes. In July 2019, Kaine and 15 other Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, a bill to mandate that ICE agents get approval from a supervisor before undertaking an immigration raid or other enforcement actions at "sensitive locations" (schools, hospitals, places of worship, and courthouses) except in special circumstances. The bill would also require agents to receive annual training and require ICE to submit an annual report on enforcement actions in those locations.
LGBTQ+ rights In 2006, Kaine campaigned against
an amendment to the Virginia State Constitution to ban
same-sex marriage, and in March 2013, he announced his support of same-sex marriage. In the Senate, Kaine co-sponsored the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would bar employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 2005, Kaine said, "No couples in Virginia can adopt other than a married couple. That's the right policy." In 2011, he shifted his position. In 2012, he said, "there should be a license that would entitle a committed couple to the same rights as a married couple." During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kaine noted that his position on same-sex marriage was "at odds with the current doctrine of the church that I still attend." He predicted that the
Roman Catholic Church would someday adopt his view. In response, two bishops heading the doctrine and marriage committees of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that the church's position "cannot change" and reaffirmed their opposition to same-sex marriage. In October 2018, Kaine was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo urging him to reverse the State Department's policy of denying visas to same-sex partners of LGBTQ diplomats who had unions that were not recognized by their home countries, writing that the Trump administration's refusal to allow LGBTQ diplomats to bring their partners to the U.S. was tantamount to upholding the "
discriminatory policies of many countries around the world." In June 2019, Kaine was one of 18 senators to sign a letter to Pompeo requesting an explanation of the State Department's decision not to issue an official statement that year commemorating
Pride Month or issue the annual cable outlining activities for embassies commemorating Pride Month. The signatories to the letter also asked why the LGBTI special envoy position had remained vacant. The authors said that the State Department's moves had sent "signals to the
international community that the United States is abandoning the advancement of LGBTI rights as a foreign policy priority." In 2022, Kaine voted for the
Respect for Marriage Act.
Taxes Kaine supports allowing the
Bush tax cuts to expire for those with incomes above $500,000. In 2012, Kaine supported raising the cap on income subject for the
FICA (Social Security) payroll tax "so that it covers a similar percentage of income as it did in the 1980s under President Reagan, which would greatly extend the solvency of the (
Social Security) program." In the Senate, Kaine has supported the
Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to require
online retailers to collect sales taxes in the same manner as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.
Trade Kaine supported granting Obama
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA or "fast track") to allow him to negotiate
free trade agreements. He said the goal should be to "negotiate deals that protect workers' rights, environmental standards and intellectual property, while knocking down tariffs and other barriers that some countries erect to keep American products out." Later that July, Kaine said that he could not support the TPP in its current form. Kaine has been a proponent of
NAFTA. In 2025, Kaine introduced several resolutions to end the national emergencies Trump had declared to justify
sweeping global tariffs. Kaine and
Mark Warner introduced a resolution to end Trump's national emergency on energy, but it was defeated by the Senate's
Republican majority. A resolution to end the emergency justifying American tariffs on Canada narrowly passed the Senate, but was blocked by the House.
Transportation, growth, and housing Kaine supports some
smart growth-style policies (which he calls "a balanced approach to growth") to control
sprawl and improve transportation. He favors a transportation policy that includes
public transit, bicycles, and pedestrians. As governor, Kaine pushed through a $100 million open-space acquisition initiative. He also participated in a White House round-table discussion on
high-speed rail in 2009.
Workers' rights and gender equality Kaine is "generally pro-
union" and has received a 96% lifetime Senate voting rating from the
AFL–CIO, But Kaine supports Virginia's longstanding "
right-to-work" law, which "frees union nonmembers from any legal obligation to pay fees to a union that
bargains collectively on their behalf". After Clinton selected him as her running mate in 2016, Kaine was praised by the
National Organization for Women. Kaine favors an increase in the
minimum wage. ==Personal life==