Former Republican Legislators Tell Virginia Why They Support Tim Kaine

CONTACT:
Kaine for Virginia Press Office
(804) 359-7106
press@kaineforva.com
 

Richmond, VA – Building on the momentum coming out of last night's debate, in which Tim Kaine made a forceful case for bipartisanship, the Kaine for Virginia campaign released Independent Voices for Kaine, a series of videos featuring a group of Republicans and previous George Allen supporters who are endorsing Kaine for U.S. Senate. In testimonials, the Republican legislators discuss the stark difference between Tim Kaine's and George Allen's approaches on fiscal and economic issues. 
 
“Working very closely with him as a State Senator, I feel like that Governor Kaine was someone that really wanted to do the right thing and wanted to put Virginia first and really look past the ideology. Unfortunately, I don’t feel as inclined that Governor Allen would do that. I feel like he is much more intertwined with the ideological base within his party and that’s where he would really take his marching orders from,” said former Republican state Senator Brandon Bell of Roanoke. “When it came down to solving the great, vast problems we have, particularly financially—and that’s my background is a financial background—is we’ve got to solve the financial issue between taxes and spending. I just felt like Governor Kaine was someone that’s going to sit down and say what do we need to do to solve that.”
 
As Virginia weathered the worst national recession since the Great Depression, Kaine worked with both parties to balance the budget and cut $5 billion in spending. This sound management and other bipartisan progress during Kaine’s term helped make Virginia Forbes’ Best State for Business all four years of his term, the Best Managed State according to Governing magazine, and Education Week’s best state to raise a child.
 
“When Tim Kaine was elected to office, I took control of the budget he introduced, I sponsored it as required by law in Virginia. It was a bipartisan budget that ultimately passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, preserving Virginia’s fiscal integrity, balancing the budget, maintaining our top credit rating, making Virginia the best place, by national recognition, to educate your children and the best place to do business and ultimately provide jobs in Virginia,” said Vince Callahan, a Republican member of the Virginia General Assembly for 40 years. “Tim Kaine is somebody that can do something like that. We need somebody in Washington that can do something like that, to get rid of the gridlock. And he—I served with eleven governors over my term of office and he was right there at the top and I cannot praise him enough for the kind of work he did across the aisle and across the Commonwealth.”
 
During his four years, Kaine worked across the aisle to eliminate taxes that were hindering Virginia’s competitive edge, pass the Commonwealth’s largest higher education bond package that renovated campuses across Virginia, invest in infrastructure, and expand economic opportunity by focusing on issues that brought Virginians together instead of driving them apart. In one of the videos, former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates Katherine Waddell voices her strong support for Kaine because of his commitment to protect women's health care choices that ensure women can make the best choices for themselves and their families.
 
“I used to call myself a life long Republican but this year, I'm supporting Tim Kaine. In this election, women have a clear choice between George Allen and Tim Kaine. When Virginia women were threatened by the transvaginal ultrasound legislation in the Virginia General Assembly, Tim Kaine stood up for Virginia women. He said it's bad for Virginia businesses and bad for Virginia women. George Allen did not stand up for women,” said Katherine Waddell, a former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates. “I encourage Virginia women to go to the polls on Tuesday, November the 6th, and vote for the man that believes women's reproductive health care decisions should be between a woman and her doctor, and not the government. And that man is Tim Kaine.”
 
“I’m honored to have the support of Virginians from all political backgrounds and leanings as we look to solve some of the steep challenges we face,” said Kaine. “Since my days as a city councilman in a diverse city like Richmond and through my time as lieutenant governor and governor working with a Republican legislature, I’ve put progress and partnership ahead of party to get results for Virginia. In the Senate, I’ll join members like Mark Warner and the Gang of Six who are building bridges between the two parties in order to create growth and reduce our deficit, and will never let a disagreement over one issue stymie cooperation on another. Congressional gridlock continues to be the great ankle weight on our economy but I know with the right leaders in place we can move the economy forward.”

For more information on the videos or to watch the full series, please visit www.voicesforkaine.com.