About Governor Tim Kaine
Just the Facts
- Birth Date: February 26, 1958
- Birth Place: St. Paul, Minnesota
- Undergraduate Degree: University of Missouri, 1979
- Law School Degree: Harvard, 1983
- Family: Married to Anne Holton; three children - Nat, Woody, and Annella
- Religion: Catholic
- Party: Democrat
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A Commitment to Keep Virginia Leading the Way
Tim Kaine became the 70th Governor of Virginia on January 14, 2006.
During Governor Kaine’s tenure, Virginia has been recognized as the most business-friendly state in America (Forbes.com 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009; CNBC 2007 and 2009), the top-performing state government in America (Governing Magazine, 2008) and the state where “a child is most likely to have a successful life” (Education Week, 2007).
Under Governor Kaine’s leadership, Virginia boasts one of the highest median incomes and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. While he has kept Virginia a business-friendly state, Governor Kaine has also worked for consumers, strengthening consumer privacy protections and identifying theft protections by requiring companies to notify customers if their records are accessed by an unauthorized person and allowing consumers to freeze access to their credit report to protect it.
In education, Governor Kaine has helped move the focus in the classroom from competence to excellence. He put into law Virginia’s first requirement for all teachers to receive regular and meaningful teacher evaluations. He has expanded access to pre-kindergarten for thousands of Virginia’s at-risk four-year-olds, dramatically expanded career and technical education offerings, and put into law requirements for the State Board of Education and local school boards to ensure that teachers convicted of certain crimes are kept out of the classroom.
Governor Kaine led the way for the creation of the New College Institute in Southside Virginia so now every region of the Commonwealth has a four-year college. And in 2008, he led efforts to secure a $1.5 billion bond package to expand college access for Virginians and thereby accelerate economic growth.
On April 16, 2007, Virginia was shaken by the tragic mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Governor Kaine, who had just left for a trade mission to Japan, returned immediately to Virginia to comfort students and their families on the campus. In the wake of the tragedy, Governor Kaine issued an executive order that requires that people who are judged mentally ill by a court will be included in state databases to prevent them from purchasing firearms, which was later codified into law.
During the 2008 General Assembly session, Governor Kaine led a bi-partisan effort to address deficiencies in the mental health care system that were found as a result of shootings. Changes included a major investment in community based mental health services, coupled with greater accountability and responsibility for Virginia’s community services boards.
Governor Kaine has worked with the legislature to expand care options for children and expectant mothers, boost wellness support for state employees, ban smoking in state buildings and provide new incentives for expanding the health care workforce. In 2008, the Governor worked with the legislature to expand the health care safety net for the uninsured and improve services to children in foster care throughout the Commonwealth. He also championed a dramatic expansion of medical education to train the next generation of Virginia physicians and nurses. In 2009, Governor Kaine led passage of a landmark smoking ban in Virginia bars and restaurants — the toughest legislation of its kind among tobacco-producing states.
Governor Kaine shares with Virginians a desire to protect the God-given beauty of the Commonwealth. The Governor and the legislature have invested over $1 billion in cleaning up Virginia’s rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. He has also embarked on an ambitious effort to preserve 400,000 acres of open space, farms and forests by the end of the decade. He has dedicated the last year of his administration to a “Renew Virginia” initiative, which will focus on reducing greenhouse gases, protecting the environment, and developing green energy and “green collar” jobs in Virginia.
During Governor Kaine’s administration, the Commonwealth has seen an historic elevation of the importance of linking land use and transportation. Governor Kaine has directed greater support toward rail and public transit solutions, and instituted innovative practices that more effectively coordinate transportation and land use planning to reduce congestion. The Administration’s work in transportation planning and public transportation has been recognized by awards from the Virginia Transit Association and the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association. Virginia is also a recognized leader in innovative use of private financing for transportation infrastructure.
A Lifetime of Public Service
Governor Kaine’s career of public service began when he took a year off from law school to volunteer with missionaries in Honduras. There, he served as the principal of a small Catholic school that taught teenagers basic carpentry and welding skills.
Governor Kaine practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of their race or disability. He won many precedent-setting cases in this area and was recognized by local, state and national organizations for his fair-housing advocacy. Kaine also taught legal ethics for six years at the University of Richmond Law School.
Governor Kaine entered political life in 1994 and was elected to four terms on the City Council, including two terms as Richmond’s mayor, where he worked to build Richmond’s first new schools in a generation, cut taxes and slash the city’s crime rate. Richmond’s success in reducing violent crime won national recognition from Presidents Clinton and Bush and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The improvements in Richmond’s economy during Kaine’s tenure earned the city its first-ever listing in Forbes Magazine’s annual ranking of the top 10 cities in America for doing business.
Governor Kaine was elected Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor in 2001. He worked for four years with Governor Mark Warner to reform the state’s budget and invest new resources in education.
Governor Kaine is Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He also chairs the Executive Council of the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay program. From 2008-2009, Governor Kaine was chair of the Southern Governors Association, where he was focused on addressing climate change in the South.
The Kaine Family
Governor Kaine grew up in Kansas City working in his father’s ironworking shop. He attended the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School.
Governor Kaine is married to Anne Holton, a former legal aid lawyer and juvenile court judge. Anne’s father, Linwood Holton, was Governor of Virginia from 1970 to 1974, making Anne the only Virginian who has lived in the Governor’s mansion as a child and then as an adult. Anne works diligently to serve the Commonwealth with a particular focus on the needs of Virginia’s children in foster care.
The Kaines have three teen-age children—Nat, Woody and Annella. The family is active in their church and spends all the time they can in Virginia’s outdoors.