Kaine and Pence to Go Head-to-Head in Tonight’s Vice Presidential Debate

Tim Kaine’s wife and former Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton along with Kaine’s parents Al and Kathy Kaine will be joining Senator Kaine tonight along with a list of guests the Clinton-Kaine campaign said represent the goals of the Democratic platform.
“Senator Kaine’s guests to the debate tonight are people Senator Kaine has worked with and fought for during his career in public service, as well as those who embody the policies and values that Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton will work to uphold and strengthen while in office,” the campaign team said.
Below is a list of Kaine’s invited guests:

• Jesse Jackson Sr. — Rev. Jesse Jackson, a personal friend of Senator Kaine’s, is a civil rights leader, and founder and President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Over the past forty years, he has been a central player in the civil rights, economic, gender equality and social justice movements of this country. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
• Okianer Christian Dark — Prof. Dark is Associate Provost for Faculty Development and Professor of Law at Howard University. While a law professor at the University of Richmond, Prof. Dark was denied an apartment based on the color of her skin. The apartment was later granted to one of her own students. Tim Kaine, then a young civil rights lawyer in Richmond, represented her as she pursued legal action. Having experienced housing discrimination herself, Prof. Dark has worked actively with fair housing law throughout her long and distinguished career as an attorney and legal scholar.
• Carol Schall, Mary Townley, and Emily Schall Townley — Both Ms. Schall and Ms. Townley are education professionals working with special needs children. They have lived in Virginia since 1982, and were plaintiffs in the landmark Bostic Case, which overturned Virginia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. They have been a couple for over 30 years, and were able to renew their vows in Richmond in 2014 after the Supreme Court let stand the ruling of their case. They will be joined at the debate by their daughter, Emily Schall Townley who is a freshman honors college student.
• Henry Marsh — Henry Marsh III was the first African American mayor of Richmond, elected in 1977. He has served on the Richmond City Council and in the Virginia Senate. During his time as a civil rights attorney, he worked on countless school desegregation cases, as well as cases on racial discrimination in employment. State Senator Marsh has known Senator Kaine since he first moved to Richmond, and has served as a mentor to the Senator throughout his career.
• Lily Habtu — Ms. Habtu is a survivor of the Virginia Tech shootings and a gun safety activist. Senator Kaine has worked extensively with Ms. Habtu since the tragedy to advance important legislation to prevent further tragedies like the one she endured. Senator Kaine acted quickly after the shooting, and signed an executive order to keep guns out of the hands of those adjudicated mentally ill—the loophole that allowed the Virginia Tech shooter to purchase weapons. Habtu has a master’s degree in conflict resolution from George Mason University, and is committed to the work of promoting peace and safety.

Tonight’s debate will start at 8 p.m. CST and run for 90 minutes, commercial free.