January 26, 2012

With a little more than nine months left before the election, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Kaine stopped in Charlottesville Thursday, as he campaigns across the Commonwealth.

The former Governor of Virginia was on the Downtown Mall to participate in a round table discussion with local business leaders. He talked about the state of the economy and the changes that can be made in Washington to help businesses in Central Virginia.

Kaine, the favorite to win the Democratic nomination, will likely face Republican front-runner George Allen for the seat being vacated by Democrat Jim Webb, and the race is heating up. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, Allen holds a slight edge over Kaine - 44 percent to 42 percent - with the remaining 14 percent still undecided.

"It is just an indication that Virginia is a battleground state," Kaine told CBS19. "We are evenly divided between Democrat, Republican and Independent, and that's a good thing not a bad thing. It means we will have a lot of close races, but I feel very good about our team and our chances."

This week, Kaine's campaign announced they raised $1.65 million in the 4th quarter of 2011 and have $3.3 million cash on hand. Meanwhile, Allen says he collected a little more than $1 million in the final three months of last year and started 2012 with about $2 million on hand.

Kaine also commented on President Obama's State of the Union address, saying he believes the President should have focused more on the nation's deficit and what measures are underway to reduce it.