Christopher Bray

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Christopher Bray
Image of Christopher Bray
Prior offices
Vermont House of Representatives Addison 5 District

Vermont State Senate Addison District

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Contact

Christopher Bray (Democratic Party) was a member of the Vermont State Senate, representing Addison District. He assumed office on January 9, 2013. He left office on January 8, 2025.

Bray (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Vermont State Senate to represent Addison District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Bray earned his B.A. in zoology and his M.A. in English from the University of Vermont. He later attended the Bread Loaf Writers Program at Middlebury College.

Bray has worked as an English professor at the University of Vermont. He has also been the founder and owner of Common Ground Communications. Bray has also worked as a farmer.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Bray was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Bray was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Bray was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Vermont committee assignments, 2017
Education
Natural Resources and Energy, Chair
Joint Energy

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Bray served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Bray served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Incumbent Ruth Hardy and Steven Heffernan defeated incumbent Christopher Bray and Landel Cochran in the general election for Vermont State Senate Addison District on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy (D)
 
27.5
 
11,715
Image of Steven Heffernan
Steven Heffernan (R)
 
27.3
 
11,645
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray (D)
 
25.8
 
10,998
Image of Landel Cochran
Landel Cochran (R)
 
19.3
 
8,211
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
62

Total votes: 42,631
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Incumbent Ruth Hardy and incumbent Christopher Bray defeated Caleb Elder in the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 13, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy
 
41.0
 
3,435
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray
 
32.5
 
2,722
Image of Caleb Elder
Caleb Elder
 
25.6
 
2,148
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.0
 
82

Total votes: 8,387
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Steven Heffernan and Landel Cochran defeated Lesley Bienvenue in the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 13, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Steven Heffernan
Steven Heffernan
 
56.6
 
1,928
Image of Landel Cochran
Landel Cochran
 
25.0
 
850
Lesley Bienvenue
 
17.6
 
599
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.8
 
28

Total votes: 3,405
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bray in this election.

2022

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Incumbent Christopher Bray and incumbent Ruth Hardy defeated Lloyd Dike, Robert Burton, and Mason Wade in the general election for Vermont State Senate Addison District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray (D)
 
33.8
 
11,898
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy (D)
 
33.3
 
11,732
Lloyd Dike (R)
 
16.4
 
5,767
Robert Burton (R)
 
14.1
 
4,952
Image of Mason Wade
Mason Wade (Independent)
 
2.4
 
846
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
34

Total votes: 35,229
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Incumbent Ruth Hardy and incumbent Christopher Bray advanced from the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy
 
51.9
 
6,291
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray
 
47.7
 
5,782
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
37

Total votes: 12,110
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Lloyd Dike and Robert Burton defeated incumbent Ruth Hardy in the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Lloyd Dike (Write-in)
 
22.0
 
109
Robert Burton (Write-in)
 
11.7
 
58
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy (Write-in)
 
6.3
 
31
 Other/Write-in votes
 
60.1
 
298

Total votes: 496
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Incumbent Ruth Hardy and incumbent Christopher Bray defeated Peter Briggs, Jon Christiano, and Archie Flower in the general election for Vermont State Senate Addison District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy (D)
 
32.8
 
13,063
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray (D)
 
31.4
 
12,522
Image of Peter Briggs
Peter Briggs (R)
 
20.1
 
8,007
Jon Christiano (R)
 
13.6
 
5,442
Archie Flower (L)
 
1.9
 
773
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
62

Total votes: 39,869
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Incumbent Ruth Hardy and incumbent Christopher Bray advanced from the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 11, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy
 
51.2
 
6,451
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray
 
48.3
 
6,086
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.6
 
71

Total votes: 12,608
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Peter Briggs and Jon Christiano advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 11, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Peter Briggs
Peter Briggs
 
89.5
 
2,924
Jon Christiano (Write-in)
 
5.5
 
179
 Other/Write-in votes
 
5.0
 
165

Total votes: 3,268
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Vermont State Senate Addison District on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy (D)
 
28.1
 
9,040
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray (D)
 
27.7
 
8,898
Image of Peter Briggs
Peter Briggs (R)
 
16.5
 
5,290
Marie Audet (Independent)
 
16.1
 
5,169
Image of Paul Ralston
Paul Ralston (Independent)
 
9.6
 
3,100
Archie Flower (L)
 
1.9
 
602
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
28

Total votes: 32,127
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Ruth Hardy and incumbent Christopher Bray advanced from the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruth Hardy
Ruth Hardy
 
51.1
 
4,058
Image of Christopher Bray
Christopher Bray
 
48.9
 
3,889

Total votes: 7,947
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District (2 seats)

Peter Briggs advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Addison District on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Peter Briggs
Peter Briggs
 
100.0
 
1,540

Total votes: 1,540
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2016

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Vermont State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 26, 2016.

Incumbent Claire Ayer and incumbent Christopher Bray defeated Peter Briggs and Lynn Dike in the Vermont State Senate Addison District general election.[1][2]

Vermont State Senate, Addison District General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Claire Ayer Incumbent 34.42% 11,988
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Christopher Bray Incumbent 27.41% 9,545
     Republican Peter Briggs 21.05% 7,330
     Republican Lynn Dike 17.12% 5,963
Total Votes 34,826
Source: Vermont Secretary of State


Incumbent Claire Ayer and incumbent Christopher Bray were unopposed in the Vermont State Senate Addison District Democratic primary.[3][4]

Vermont State Senate, Addison District Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Claire Ayer Incumbent
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Christopher Bray Incumbent


Peter Briggs and Lynn Dike were unopposed in the Vermont State Senate Addison District Republican primary.[3][4]

Vermont State Senate, Addison District Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Peter Briggs
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Lynn Dike

2014

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Vermont State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 12, 2014. Addison has two state senators. Incumbents Claire Ayer and Christopher Bray were unopposed in the Democratic primary, and are unchallenged in the general election.[5] After facing no opposition in the Democratic primary, both incumbents will go equally unchallenged in the general election with no other candidates on the ballot.[6]

2012

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2012

Bray won election in the 2012 election for Vermont State Senate Addison District. Bray was unopposed in the August 28 Democratic primary and won election in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7]

Vermont State Senate, Addison District, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngClaire Ayer Incumbent 46.3% 12,925
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngChristopher Bray 35.5% 9,904
     Independent Robert Wagner 18.1% 5,059
Total Votes 27,888

2010

See also: Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2010

Bray did not run for re-election to the Addison 5 District in 2010.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Christopher Bray did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Christopher Bray did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Christopher Bray did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

Bray's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

I want to work with you, serving in the Vermont Senate, to apply this balanced approach to solving the major challenges we face as a state:

  • to develop a more prosperous local economy
  • to ensure that all Vermonters have access to healthy, wholesome food
  • to offer an affordable, high-quality education throughout life
  • to provide every Vermonter access to affordable health care
  • to develop an affordable and responsible energy future

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Christopher Bray campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Vermont State Senate Addison DistrictLost general$41,433 $47,837
2022Vermont State Senate Addison DistrictWon general$0 $0
2020Vermont State Senate Addison DistrictWon general$8,123 N/A**
2016Vermont State Senate, District AddisonWon $9,124 N/A**
2014Vermont State Senate, District AddisonWon $0 N/A**
2012Vermont State Senate, District AddisonWon $14,888 N/A**
2008Vermont State Senate, District AddisonWon $3,500 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Vermont

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Vermont scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

In 2024, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 10.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored based on their voting records on environmental issues.
  • Vermont Public Interest Research Group: Senate and House
Legislators are scored by VPIRG on bills related to public interest issues.


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Bray and his partner, Kathy, have two children.

See also


External links

Footnotes


Current members of the Vermont State Senate
Leadership
Majority Leader:Kesha Ram Hinsdale
Senators
Addison District
Bennington District
Caledonia District
Chittenden Central District
Chittenden North District
Chittenden Southeast District
Essex District
Franklin District
Grand Isle District
Lamoille District
Orange District
Orleans District
Rutland District
Washington District
Windham District
Windsor District
Joe Major (D)
Democratic Party (16)
Republican Party (13)
Vermont Progressive Party (1)