First Lady Anne Holton

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Anne Holton, Governor Tim Kaine’s wife, has devoted her career to serving as an advocate for Virginia’s families and children. Born in Roanoke, Virginia in 1958, Anne graduated from Princeton University in 1980. She went on to Harvard Law School, where she met Tim Kaine and graduated in 1983.

After school, Anne served as law clerk to the Honorable Robert R. Merhige Jr. in the United States District Court in Richmond. In 1985, she joined the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society as an attorney and helped design an award-winning volunteer lawyer program for the City of Richmond.  Her work earned her Metropolitan Richmond’s “Women of Achievement Award” in 1995.

In 1998, Anne became a judge in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond. She worked with a group that improved court processing of abuse and neglect foster care cases. She also served on teams focusing on foster care and adoption issues. She resigned her judgeship following Tim Kaine’s election to concentrate on their three children, Nat, Woody and Annella, and her duties as First Lady of Virginia.

Holton’s recent move into the governor’s mansion has been a homecoming. Her father, Linwood Holton, served as Virginia’s governor while Anne was a teenager, from 1970-1974.