Anne Holton

Anne Bright Holton (born February 1, 1958) is an American lawyer and judge who served as the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 to 2016.

In 1969, her father was elected as governor of Virginia, as a Republican serving from 1970 to 1974.

When her father became governor, he first enrolled Holton in a prestigious grade school.

In response to a federal court decision desegregating Richmond Public Schools, she and her siblings attended predominantly black schools, including Mosby Middle School, near the Virginia Executive Mansion.

Holton attended Open High School, and graduated from Langley High School in 1976.

One of Holton's brothers is Woody Holton, a professor of history at the University of South Carolina.

Holton graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1980.

At Princeton, Holton was a member of Colonial Club.

Holton then attended Harvard Law School, where she met her future husband, Tim Kaine.

The future couple met as students in a legal assistance program focusing on prisoners' civil rights.

While a law student, Holton also served on the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee.

Both Holton and Kaine earned their law degrees from Harvard in 1983.

They married in November 1984 at a Roman Catholic church in Richmond.

Holton decided to keep her maiden name, a decision Kaine supported.

They moved to the North Side neighborhood of Richmond, where they have lived ever since.

From 1985 to 1998, she worked as an attorney for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, where she helped create an award-winning volunteer lawyers' program in Richmond.

The couple has three children: Nat (b. 1990), Woody (b. 1992), and Annella (b. 1995).

Following graduation from law school, Holton served as a law clerk for Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr. of the Richmond-based United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In the mid-1990s, Holton occasionally served as a substitute judge for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond.

When the court expanded to a fifth permanent judgeship, Holton applied for the post and was appointed.

Holton was sworn in as a judge on June 30, 1998, one day before Kaine was sworn in as mayor.

Holton served as chief judge of the court.

Holton administered the oath of office at her husband's inauguration as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2002.

Holton was not allowed to participate in her husband's campaign for governor in 2005 because of her position as a judge.

Holton resigned from the bench following her husband's election as governor in 2005.

After Kaine's term as governor ended, Holton served as director of the Great Expectations program, an initiative that helped foster children attend schools in the Virginia Community College System.

Holton served as First Lady of Virginia from 2006 to 2010.

Another one of her brothers, Dwight Holton served as United States Attorney for the District of Oregon from February 2010 to October 2011.

In 2014, Virginia governor-elect Terry McAuliffe appointed Holton to be the state's Education Secretary.

As Education Secretary, Holton wrote in 2015 that high-stakes testing in Virginia resulted in "teaching to the test" and made it difficult to attract good teachers to low-income schools.

Holton supported increases in teacher pay and changes to the state's high school curriculum.

She said she supported increased professional development for teachers.

She is married to United States Senator and former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, the vice presidential running mate of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

She also indicated her support for McAuliffe's 2016 legislative proposals to change high school graduation requirements and focus on early college courses and industry credentials.

Holton resigned as Education Secretary on July 25, 2016, in order to focus on her husband's campaign for vice president.

In February 2017, Governor McAuliffe appointed Holton to the Virginia State Board of Education.

She served as interim president of George Mason University from 2019 to 2020.

Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Holton is the daughter of Virginia Harrison "Jinks" (Rogers) and Linwood Holton, a lawyer and Republican Party politician.

Her paternal grandfather was an executive at a small coal-hauling railroad.

As a child, Holton started a club dedicated to service and good deeds.