Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said this week that he’d run next year for the Virginia U.S. Senate seat being vacated by James Webb. Democrats see that seat as crucial to maintaining their current Senate majority in the 2012 elections. Kaine, 53, a former Virginia governor, is entering what promises to be one of next year’s most competitive races. The Republican front-runner is George Allen, another former governor, who lost the Senate seat to Webb in 2006.
Kaine has been seen as the Democrats’ best chance for retaining Webb’s seat. Kaine is stepping down immediately from his DNC post,
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