Tim Kaine - 2005 Gubernatorial Election

2005 Gubernatorial Election

In 2005, Kaine ran for and won the office of governor of Virginia in the November general election, defeating Republican former Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore with 52% of the vote to Kilgore's 46%.

An underdog for most of the race, Kaine led in some polls for the first time in October 2005, and held his lead into the final week before the election. While the previous Democratic Governor, Mark Warner, was credited with doing especially well for a Democrat in rural areas of the commonwealth, Kaine's win featured surprising triumphs in traditionally Republican areas such as Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the Northern Virginia exurbs of Prince William County and Loudoun County, as well as impressive showings in Democratic strongholds such as Richmond and Norfolk.

Kaine closely associated himself with popular outgoing Democratic Governor Mark Warner during his campaign; he won his race with a slightly smaller portion of the vote than Warner did, but achieved a slightly wider margin on account of the third-party candidate's comparatively greater success in 2005. A number of factors, from the poll numbers of President George W. Bush to public reaction to the death penalty ads run by Kilgore, have also been cited as contributing to his decisive win. Kaine was inaugurated in Williamsburg on January 14, 2006.