Holton alienated Democrats who controlled Virginia’s General Assembly when he insisted on a GOP opponent in 1970 for U.S. Of raising taxes, Holton once said at a 1999 conference on his administration: “I’ll bet not three of 10 people in this room could tell you what tax I increased, but they all appreciate the swimmable rivers throughout Virginia which my 1 percent increase in the state income tax paid for.” When others stood in the doorways of schools to block de-segregation, our Dad walked us (and bused us) to integrated schools to show the rest of the world the way of justice,” his children’s statement said. “To the world, Governor Linwood Holton is known as a giant of civil rights and change. He also was the first Virginia governor to appoint Black officials to high-level government posts.
He enrolled his own white children in predominantly Black schools rather than fight school busing. Holton was the first Republican to break the stronghold Democrats held on state government for nearly 100 years, defeating William C. “His courageous efforts to end racial discrimination in Virginia, born out of a deep religious conviction about the equality of all God’s children, made him a moral pillar for so many,” Kaine said.
Kaine called Holton “more than a father-in-law - he was my friend and my public service role model.” Holton died peacefully at his home in Kilmarnock, his children said in a statement shared by the office of Democratic U.S.
