Sen. Tim Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton, admits the purpose of her “We The People” tax-exempt non-partisan organization is to help get like-minded candidates elected. Is that unlawful?
A Restoration News investigation has uncovered potential unlawful activity by We The People for Education, an organization funded by the National Education Association (NEA) and Virginia Education Association (VEA) and co-founded by Virginia Board of Education member and wife of Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, Anne Holton.
We The People for Education was created in December 2022 and claims to be a non-partisan 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization. IRS rules prohibit this type of entity from engaging primarily in political activity (usually meaning more than half of its annual budget). There’s evidence to suggest it may be violating that strict law.
We The People spent $123,717 on political activities across multiple Virginia races in the 2024 election cycle, including an attack mailer against a conservative Virginia Beach school board candidate.
That seems high, considering the group’s previous IRS Form 990 filing showed just $115,816 in receipts for the year prior, 70 percent of which came from two teachers’ unions: $65,000 from the National Education Association and another $15,000 from the Virginia Education Association, the NEA’s state chapter. In that same filing, We The People declined to answer the question regarding whether it engaged in political activity that year.
This paper trail shows that We The People is just an arm of the teachers’ unions. But as a tax-exempt nonprofit, the politically active group doesn’t report its contributors to the Virginia Department of Elections, as is required of political action committees under state law.
What does the law require?
It’s entirely possible that We The People should be reporting those political expenditures and donations.
Virginia law requires strict transparency for groups and individuals engaged in electioneering under § 24.2-945.2: “Any person, candidate campaign committee, or political committee that makes independent expenditures” in the amount of $200 or more for local elections “shall . . . report pursuant to this chapter all such independent expenditures made for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate.”
“Person” is defined as “any individual or corporation, partnership, business, labor organization, membership organization, association, cooperative, or other like entity.”
That’s especially important when we trace We The People’s own contributions to left-wing candidates across Virginia, proof that the group is anything but non-partisan.
One Democrat school board candidate in Virginia Beach, Sharon Felton, received over $12,000 worth of in-kind donations from We The People. The group paid for an attack mailer against Felton’s conservative opponent, Monty Ashliman, a decorated retired military officer who served honorably as a TOPGUN instructor and Commanding Officer of a military base.
Attack mailer funded by We The People for Education
Video Evidence
The Virginia Education Association’s (VEA) political director, Shane Riddle, admitted on video in May 2023 that We The People “work(s) with us on the ground with our local political action committees of which we have around 32 or 33 all across the state . . . to help support these candidates . . . to run for local office.” He further states: “We are working closely with We The People to help fund the organization, to help funnel interesting candidates into the organization, and to also provide support in messaging and media training and all those things it takes to run a campaign.”
During a “Power Lunch” webinar, We The People Board member Anne Holton made some very strong statements detailing the political work of her organization. “We are in a moment of real attacks on public education,” she said, “we have folks trying to rewrite history . . . we are seeing book banning, we are seeing attacks on teachers . . . we are seeing intolerance toward people who love differently . . . we are seeing attacks on people in leadership roles.”
Holton further claimed that “right wing extremists took a 4–3 majority” on the Spotsylvania school board and started “doing crazy things right away,” so left-wing school board candidates need a rapid response communications team to “combat disinformation” and We The people would be helping.
Holton later admitted the purpose of We The People for Education is to help get candidates elected. They will provide candidates “concrete campaign assistance” including instructions on “how to access voter files” and how to do targeted mailings. Holton claims “That’s what We The People is all about, trying to help especially in races where we can really make a difference and where we can support candidates in the legislative races as well.”
If Holton’s statements weren’t enough to show that We The People’s mission is purely political, their executive director Tiffany Van Der Hyde doubled down on explaining their political work. She details the support they give to candidates including “communications guidance, digital support, mailers, we want to help with your field and your targeting programs. We want to help you build out a base of . . . progressive partners at the local level to help you get elected.”
The moderators of the tell-all forum that exposes the alliance between the VEA and We The People spend time demeaning outside groups such as Moms for Liberty. They refer to them as “outside agitators” coming to school board meetings to cause problems. They further claim that Moms for Liberty is a wicked organization and they need to go on offense against Moms for Liberty.
Deep Democrat Ties
Public filings list Katherine Labeau as the incorporator of We The People. Labeau is a partner with the Elias Law Group, the politically red-hot legal team run by Marc Elias after he left Perkins Coie, the Democratic Party’s preferred law firm. The Elias Law Group’s past clients include the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton.
We The People is also deeply connected to Virginia Democrats. Its advisory board includes far-left former Virginia Department of Education Secretary Atif Qarni and VEA President James Fedderman.
It’s time for the appropriate authorities to investigate whether We The People for Education is violating campaign finance or IRS laws related to their political activities without proper disclosures.
Restoration News reached out to We The People for comment and received no response at the time of publishing.
This article first appeared on Is "We The People" an Illegal Front for the NEA to Influence School Board Races?
