And we have a winner for the Democratic veepstakes!Tim Kaine has been chosen by Hillary Clinton as her running mate, the candidate announced on Friday.Tim Kaine was elected to the Senate in 2012. Before that he served both as mayor of Richmond and governor of Virginia. He was considered for the VP position during the Obama campaign in 2008, and afterwards he led the DNC from 2009 to 2011.Kaine was a top-contender to be Clinton's running mate since the beginning, due to his possible appeal to independent and swing voters because of his more moderate stances.The announcement ends months of speculation about who Clinton would pick to round out her ticket. The former secretary of state began seriously considering potential candidates for the VP position as early as May, according to The New York Times "There is nothing more important than my rock-solid conviction that the person I choose could literally get up one day and be the president of the United States," she recently told PBS' Charlie Rose when talking about her search for a running mate.Both Clinton and her running mate will address the country next week when Democrats gather in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention . That's also when Clinton will formally become the first female presidential candidate from a major party in the history of the U.S.Refinery29’s News team is on the ground covering the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention. Follow along @R29News and check out our full coverage of the 2016 race here