When asked to name their top three priorities if elected, Sen. Tim Kaine said there were so many big ones, he had to list four — the economy, reproductive freedom, lowering health care costs and immigration reform — while his opponent, retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao, narrowed his choices to one urgent matter.
"Secure the border, secure the border and secure the border," Cao wrote in an email. "Everything flows from there." Kaine, a Democrat who's finishing his 12th year in Congress, recently stopped by the Free Lance–Star newsroom as part of his visit to Virginia newspapers.
He discussed a wide range of topics: transportation in the region, his ability to speak fluent Spanish as a former missionary to Honduras and more. Being able to talk without an interpreter to most South American leaders opens up discussions that wouldn't happen otherwise, he said. Kaine is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and heads its subcommittee on the western hemisphere.
"When you're able to [talk] in real time in Spanish, you get the real deal and that's been really fun," Kaine said. "And 10% of Virginians are Latinos and have connections in the Americas, and it's fun to be able to do that for them." Cao also was invited to visit the newspaper, but his campaign requested questions by email.
A Republican who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in May, Cao is running for office for the second time. In 2022, he was defeated by Rep. Jennifer Wexton for the 10th Congression.