Kaine v. Cao: A look into where each candidate stands on key issues ahead of the election

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Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is seeking a third term to office this November while his Republican challenger, retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao, seeks to unseat the incumbent.

The USA Today Network sent both campaigns a questionnaire, to give voters the opportunity to learn who the candidates are and where they stand on key issues. Their responses are below, listed in order of highest fundraiser first, and edited only lightly and with additional context when necessary to maintain the tone of the candidate and their campaign.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat

Candidate's biography in 150 words or less:

Tim Kaine grew up in Kansas City and graduated from the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School. In law school, he took a year off to volunteer with missionaries in Honduras, teaching carpentry and welding. Tim and Anne, a native Virginian, have been married for 40 years and have three children. 

He was a fair housing lawyer for 17 years, then ran for Richmond’s City Council and Mayor where he built schools, cut crime, created good-paying jobs, and cleaned up the James River. He served as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor and Governor, leading the Commonwealth through a national recession while prioritizing education and public safety.  

In 2012, Tim was elected to the Senate. Tim is focused on standing up for all Virginians and has secured expanded access to affordable health care, improved the quality of life for veterans and military families, addressed the opioid crisis, and lowered prescription drug costs.  

A piece of interesting, unique or lighthearted information about the candidate in 100 words or less:

Tim taught himself to play harmonica as a child. He carries seven with him and plays often with two bands — a jazz band in DC and a bluegrass band in Richmond. He plays impromptu sessions all around Virginia — from the Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention to the Floyd Country Store to the Richmond Folk Festival to his own church choir. He even teamed up with Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander to kickoff Bristol Rhythm and Roots in 2017. Tim believes music is a great unifier. 

The candidate's stance and policy ideas on the following topics in 100 words or less for each topic:

• Economy: Tim helped spur an economic renaissance in Richmond while Mayor and led Virginia to be recognized as America’s best state for business all four years he was Governor. In the Senate, he’s the champion for expanding career and technical education. His support for infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy legislation has led to dozens of high-impact projects and job announcements in every corner of Virginia. His economic philosophy is Make Build Grow: Make it here, build it here, and grow it here. He has cemented Virginia’s role as the world’s shipbuilding leader through his service on the Armed Services Committee. 
• Health care: Tim’s working to lower health care costs and protect health care coverage for Virginians. He was a deciding vote to preserve the Affordable Care Act, protecting health care coverage of 1.3 million Virginians with pre-existing conditions. He took on Big Pharma to lower the cost of insulin. Tim was a deciding vote for the American Rescue Plan, which included a provision from his Medicare-X plan to lower premiums. Tim led efforts to raise the federal tobacco age from 18 to 21, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. He helped pass the Gabriella Miller Act, increasing research into pediatric cancer. 
• Supreme Court appointments: Given the gravity of a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, Tim withholds decisions on nominees until he carefully reviews their qualifications, meets with them, and observes their interview before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Tim has long supported efforts to uphold ethics rules for justices and judges. He is a cosponsor of the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which would create a binding code of ethics and strengthen recusal standards and disclosure rules at the Supreme Court.  
• Foreign policy: As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Tim is the leading voice for asserting Congress’s role in matters of war, peace, and diplomacy, and has stood up against Presidents of both parties who unilaterally act without it. He promotes strengthening U.S. alliances and the bipartisan effort to guarantee no President can withdraw from NATO absent Congressional approval. Drawing upon his experience working with missionaries in Honduras, he has been a leader in restoring diplomatic engagement with the Western Hemisphere and bolstering the economies of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean so prosperity at home can reduce outbound migration. 
• Violent crime: As Mayor and Governor, Tim worked hard to reduce crime and helped Virginia attain recognition as one of America’s safest states. As Senator, he has fought for resources for Virginia public safety agencies to hire personnel and build out emergency communication systems. He helped pass the Violence Against Women Act, the First Step Act promoting better reintegration of ex-offenders back into society, and the Public Safety Officers Support Act to expand benefits to law enforcement officers who lose their lives in the line of duty. 
• Immigration: Virginia is home to over one million immigrants and Tim believes that diversity makes the Commonwealth stronger. He has supported three bipartisan immigration reforms — in 2013, 2018, and 2024 — to improve border enforcement but Republican leadership ultimately killed each proposal. Tim has led the charge on defending Temporary Protective Status, fought to improve interdiction of fentanyl at our borders, and strongly supports DACA to give Dreamers a path to citizenship. Tim is working with bipartisan colleagues to find a commonsense reform package to protect the border while allowing legal immigration that is so critical to America’s workforce. 
• Gun policy: Tim believes weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools, which is why he supports universal background checks, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and providing more support for people facing mental health challenges. In 2022, he worked to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the first major federal gun safety in nearly three decades. 
• Abortion: Tim believes people should make their own reproductive health care decisions and opposes efforts to criminalize women and doctors through state or national abortion bans. He is the lead Democratic sponsor of the Reproductive Freedom for All Act, the only bipartisan proposal before Congress that would codify the protections of Roe v. Wade as statutory protections at the federal level. He has also cosponsored similar legislation protecting rights to access contraception and utilize in vitro fertilization. 
• Racial and ethnic inequality: Tim served as a civil rights lawyer for 17 years and has always stood up for those facing discrimination of any kind. He helped pass legislation protecting marriage equality and is a key leader in the effort to pass comprehensive voting rights reform in honor of late Congressman John Lewis. He has played a key role in passing legislation to reduce hate crimes and worked for years to help seven Virginia tribes finally gain federal recognition. 
• Climate change: Tim helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest single investment in the clean energy economy, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which invests in technology that's key to expanding clean energy. These bills have helped Virginia move into a leadership position on solar power and offshore wind development. Tim has stood firmly against efforts to fast-track the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and he's opposed efforts to open Virginia’s coastline to offshore drilling.  He’s worked to make sure Virginia has clean air and clean water. As an avid outdoorsman, Tim knows Virginia’s great outdoors is a treasure worth preserving for future generations. 

Challenger retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao, Republican

Candidate's biography in 150 words or less:

Retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. After a few years in West Africa, Hung moved to Virginia as a child and is a proud member of the inaugural graduating class of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria.

He was commissioned as a Special Operations Officer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Deep Sea Diving) from the U.S. Naval Academy, and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Hung received his Masters degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and fellowships at MIT and Harvard.

He and his wife April are the parents of five beautiful children. After their thirteenth move across the U.S., and around the world, Hung and April moved their family home to Purcellville, Virginia where they have been active in their community and church. 

A piece of interesting, unique or lighthearted information about the candidate in 100 words or less:

Hung and his family founded Audible Easter Eggs for the Visually Impaired. This 501(c)3 [non-profit organization] creates beeping easter eggs for blind children for Easter Egg hunts. They use IED technology meant for evil to bring joy to those who couldn’t otherwise enjoy a holiday tradition.

He and his wife co-authored “Call me an American” which includes his story of leaving Vietnam as a refugee, growing up in sub-Saharan West Africa, and learning English at the age of 12. The book discussed his life as a father of five, recovering John F. Kennedy Jr’s plane, and deploying into combat.  

The candidate's stance and policy ideas on the following topics in 100 words or less for each topic:

• Economy: America is more than a country; it was a place of unlimited opportunity birthed by the promise of individual liberty. Here, anyone could come from nothing and achieve everything. But those opportunities have been threatened by politicians who threaten our prosperity with burdensome regulations that cripple small businesses. Our leaders must be proactive, not reactive. Bold American energy and manufacturing policies will create good-paying jobs for Americans and ensure our country remains the standard-bearer for the free world. 
• Health care: Rationing has no place in our society [Cao's campaign is referring to a July 2023 PBS News report and an August 2023 Reuters report regarding medication shortages]. Most Americans are unaware several types of medication including antibiotics, cancer therapy, and pain medication are now unavailable at their local pharmacy. Doctors are now rationing drugs because they have become unavailable or are in short supply. Not only has the Biden-Harris Administration failed to make the public aware, but the possibility of a prescription drug crisis looms without measures to ensure sick Americans have what they need to survive. It is imperative that the medical industry be allowed to innovate and compete in order to drive down costs. 
• Supreme Court appointments: In four years, President Trump appointed three respected, fair and knowledgeable Supreme Court nominees. Democrats are upset about the rules that they changed and are now trying to change the game all together. Court-packing is an appalling attempt to politicize the Supreme Court. Justice is blind and politicians like Kamala Harris attempting to add liberal judges and politicize our courts is an attack on our justice system. 
• Foreign policy: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been a failure in all aspects of national power: Diplomacy, Information, Military and Economy. Hung speaks three languages fluently and has traveled to 40 countries. He spent four years in the Pentagon defining requirements and budgeting for our military. He understands the restraints placed on the military and the defense industry when Congress is unable to pass a budget. A strong national defense should also mean vibrant economic development. Good jobs in research, development, testing, and manufacturing are all here in Virginia. 
• Violent crime: From a recent DOJ report, violent crimes rose under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Local law enforcement is dealing with increased crime and increased lethal drugs like fentanyl flooding our streets. Virginia needs a U.S. Senator like Hung who will stand with law enforcement, hold criminals accountable and ensure that our laws are being enforced.
• Immigration: What is happening at our southern border with Mexico is an invasion. There are military-aged males from countries like China, Yemen, Somalia, and Haiti crossing our border from Mexico. Hung has been to over 40 countries in the world, but you don’t have to take it from him: Those men didn’t walk to Mexico, to walk into our country from there. As Senator, Hung will stop it. He will build the wall, secure the border through advanced technology, support the Border Patrol and border states, and repel this invasion. 
• Gun policy: The Constitution is clear regarding the Second Amendment. Hung will always protect the right to self-defense. We must send a strong message to violent offenders. Gun-related violence must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Prosecutors who refuse to enforce the law must be held accountable. 
• Abortion: As a U.S. Senator, Hung will vote against any national abortion ban. He believes this issue was correctly sent back to the states. He supports access to in vitro fertilization, as some of his own children were the result of fertility treatments. As a Christian, Hung believes life begins at conception. As our next U.S. Senator, he will respect that the Constitution calls for this issue to be decided by the American people in their respective states. 
• Racial and ethnic inequality: The hyper-focus on race and gender is destroying years of work that ensured equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, sex, and religion. Diversity of thought and experience, not racial quotas, are the foundations for success and should be the priority for every business that seeks to push innovation and develop new technologies. Indoctrination has no place in our schools or businesses. Every parent has the right to decide what is best for their family and every child has the right to be educated in a safe, challenging learning environment without the pressure of a far-left ideological agenda. 
• Climate change: Virginians do not want a Senator from California passing legislation that tells them what to do. Virginians should be able to work with their state representatives on these issues. America could be leaders in energy production except for left-wing ideologues who would rather buy oil from our enemies versus developing clean American coal. We need to be creative and forward-looking for sustainable, long-term economic development that is not built on the backs of the American taxpayer. The U.S. has been a great steward of the resource God has provided and Hung does not believe China will do the same.