Meet Our Chair

Tim Kaine was elected Governor of Virginia on November 8, 2005. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1979, Kaine graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Missouri and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1983. While in law school, he took a year off to work as a Christian missionary, serving as principal of a vocational and technical school in a small village in Honduras.

While City Councilman and Mayor of Richmond, Kaine led reforms to improve the city’s business climate, cutting taxes and enhancing services, helping Richmond become one of the 10 best cities in America to do business, according to Forbes magazine. He built the city’s first new schools in a generation, without raising taxes. Kaine was also a leader in implementing Project Exile, an award-winning crime-fighting strategy that helped cut the homicide rate in half and won support from both the NRA and gun safety organizations.

As Lt. Governor, Tim Kaine helped make unprecedented state spending cuts and helped lead fiscal reform and the full funding of public schools for the first time in a decade. Kaine also initiated the creation of the New College Institute, a state college in Southside, to meet the demand for higher education in an underserved region.

Tackling transportation as his first legislative issue, Kaine won significant new investments in rail and public transit, as well as significant reforms to guarantee accountability and efficiency in transportation spending for Virginia’s taxpayers. Kaine has also established the most significant smart growth laws in Virginia’s recent history, better connecting land use and transportation planning.

Kaine has challenged Virginians to preserve 400,000 acres of open space by the end of his administration, reforming a conservation easement program to protect farms and forests around the state and led the way for a record investment of over 500 million dollars in the Chesapeake Bay clean up and the protection Virginia’s rivers.

In August of 2006, Forbes.com named Virginia the “Best State for Business” in the nation. Governor Kaine continues to create a business-friendly environment, quality jobs, and investments in the state that benefit Virginia’s hardworking families.

Earlier this year, Education Week published a survey that shows children born in Virginia have a better chance for life success that those born in any other state in the nation. Kaine has worked to increase teacher’s salaries and require regular teacher evaluations. He continues to work to make voluntary pre-kindergarten education available for all of Virginia’s four-year-olds.

Kaine is married Anne Holton, the daughter of former Republican Governor Linwood Holton and a former juvenile court judge. Their three children – Nat, Woody, and Annella – attend Richmond public schools. The Kaines are active in their church and enjoy spending time outdoors, camping, hiking, and fishing.