Tim Kaine (VA):

Tim Kaine has served as a Senator from Virginia since 2013. Kaine was also the party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2016 election, where he would be teamed up with Hillary Clinton. Prior to his time in the Senate, Kaine served as the Governor of Virginia and as the Mayor of Richmond, Virginia.

With the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2021 Republicans flipped the Governor’s position for the first time in over a decade, and many believe this could indicate that Kaine’s position in 2024 is not as secure as previously thought if he chooses to run again in 2024.

According to Ellis Insight:

Sen. Kaine, the Democrats’ 2016 Vice Presidential nominee and former Virginia Governor, stands for a third term in 2024.  The Fox analysis placed Sen. Kaine on the potential retirement list with the reasoning that Virginia could be moving more to the right, thus suggesting the Senator might face a more difficult re-election campaign.

Such an analysis is incorrect.  Despite Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the 2021 Governor’s race – a two-point win where the last three weeks of the campaign turned decidedly his way under circumstances that are unlikely to be repeated – the state has clearly established itself as a reliable Democratic bastion.  Expect Sen. Kaine to run again and face relatively weak opposition.  He will likely romp to a decisive re-election victory.