Former Virginia governor Linwood Holton Jr. dead at 98

Linwood Holton Jr., the first Republican-elected governor of Virginia in the 20th century, died Thursday, his family said. He was 98.

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Holton’s death was announced by his children, the Times-Dispatch of Richmond reported. He died at his home in Kilmarnock. No cause of death was given.

“To the world, Gov. Linwood Holton is known as a giant of civil rights and change. When others stood in the doorways of schools to block desegregation, our dad walked us (and bused us) to integrated schools to show the rest of the world the way of justice,” Holton’s family said in a statement. “When others balked at tearing down the barriers to employment and opportunities for all Americans, our dad led the charge in hiring for the governor’s office a staff that represented all Virginians.”

Holton’s daughter, Anne, is married to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate during the 2016 presidential campaign, The Washington Post reported.

“I mourn the loss of my father-in-law Linwood Holton. He was more than a father-in-law -- he was my friend and my public service role model” Kaine said in a statement. “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. Lin and Jinks have been the key inspiration for my wife Anne’s public service career.”

Holton was considered a moderate Republican, and his victory in 1969 ended the Democratic Party’s dominance in the state and introduced political competition, the Times-Dispatch reported.

The last Republican elected governor in Virginia before Holton was Gilbert Carlton Walker, who served from 1869 to 1874.

It was Holton’s second attempt to win the statehouse; he lost in 1965, the newspaper reported. His victory signaled the end of the state’s Democratic organization that had controlled Virginia since the late 1800s, according to the Times-Dispatch.

Holton persuaded the state Legislature to raise the income and gasoline taxes and used the revenue for environmental protection, higher education and transportation projects, the Post reported.

Holton called his work on race relations “the greatest source of satisfaction and pride for me.”

He opposed busing as a way to achieve integration, but when a federal appeals court affirmed an order to require businng in Richmond’s schools in 1970, Holton decided as a family to participate, the Post reported.

In a statement, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Holton “knew defeat at the ballot box before victory -- and when he won, he made every moment count.”

“If you want to know what American strength looks like, look at the famous photographs of Gov. Holton -- smiling, as he walked his children to Richmond’s public schools during the tensest moments of desegregation,” Northam said. “He faced down Virginia’s demons and enabled this Commonwealth to look ahead.”

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