Tim Kaine in the context of Seniority in the United States Senate

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Virginia junior senator Tim Kaine, in what was considered one of the biggest political upsets in American history. It was the fifth and most recent presidential election in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote.

Incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Clinton secured the nomination over U.S. senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and became the first female presidential nominee of a major American political party. Initially considered a novelty candidate, Trump presented himself as a blunt-spoken political outsider and emerged as the Republican front-runner, defeating several notable opponents, including U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as well as governors John Kasich and Jeb Bush. Trump's right-wing populist, nationalist campaign, which promised to "Make America Great Again" and opposed political correctness, illegal immigration, and many US free trade agreements, garnered extensive free media coverage due to Trump's inflammatory comments. Clinton emphasized her extensive political experience; denounced Trump and half of his supporters as "deplorable" bigots and extremists; and advocated the expansion of Obama's policies, stressing racial equality, LGBT rights, women's rights, and inclusive capitalism.

Virginia has sent senators to the U.S. Senate since 1789. Its Senate seats were declared vacant in March 1861, due to its secession from the Union, but senators representing its western counties continued to sit until March 1865. Virginia's Senate seats were again filled from January 1870. Virginia's current senators are Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Harry F. Byrd was Virginia's longest-serving senator (1933–1965). Both incumbent senators previously served as Governor of Virginia between 2002 and 2010.

The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Arena) in Cleveland, Ohio. The event marked the third time Cleveland has hosted the Republican National Convention and the first since 1936. In addition to determining the party's national ticket, the convention ratified the party platform.

There were 2,472 delegates to the Republican National Convention, with a simple majority of 1,237 required to win the presidential nomination. Most of those delegates were bound for the first ballot of the convention based on the results of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries. On July 19, 2016, the convention formally nominated Donald Trump for president and Indiana governor Mike Pence for vice president. Trump and Pence went on to win the general election, defeating the Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.

Mike Pence served as the 48th vice president of the United States during the first presidency of Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, to January 20, 2021. Pence, a member of the Republican Party who previously served as the Governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, was selected as Trump's running mate and took office following their electoral college victory in the 2016 presidential election over Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. The defining moment of Pence's vice presidency was his refusal to obey Trump's orders to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election during the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Pence's vice presidency was not as influential in day-to-day governance as his three predecessors, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, and Joe Biden. Alongside Pence's vice presidency, the Republican Party also held their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 115th U.S. Congress following the 2016 elections, attained an overall federal government trifecta. During Pence's tenure as vice president, he chaired the National Space Council and the White House Coronavirus Task Force.