Tanya Vyhovsky

Tanya Vyhovsky

Vermont Progressive Party

Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Prior offices

Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical)

Predecessor: Linda Myers

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Compensation

Base salary

$843.32/week during session

Per diem

No per diem paid during session. Members can receive $168.66/day in per diem outside of session.

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Northeastern University, 2009

Graduate

University of Vermont, 2017

Personal

Profession

Social worker

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Tanya Vyhovsky (Vermont Progressive Party) is a member of the Vermont State Senate, representing Chittenden Central District. She assumed office on January 4, 2023. Her current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Vyhovsky (Vermont Progressive Party, Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Vermont State Senate to represent Chittenden Central District. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024. She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 13, 2024.

Biography

Tanya Vyhovsky graduated from Essex High School. Vyhovsky earned a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in 2009 and a master’s degree from the University of Vermont in 2017. Her career experience includes working as a social worker and as a research fellow at the Northeastern Vermont Area Health Education Center. Vyhovsky served as a developer and program director of the Vermont Support Line and as the Vermont Chapter vice president of the National Association of Social Work.

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

Vyhovsky was assigned to the following committees:

• House Government Operations Committee
• Joint Public Pension Oversight Committee

2021-2022

Vyhovsky was assigned to the following committees:

• House Government Operations Committee

Sponsored legislation

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 Chittenden Central District (3 seats)

Incumbent Martine Gulick, incumbent Philip Baruth, and incumbent Tanya Vyhovsky won election in the general election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Martine Gulick (D)	34.3	18,191
✔		Philip Baruth (D / Vermont Progressive Party)	33.6	17,782
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky (Vermont Progressive Party / D)	30.1	15,936
		Other/Write-in votes	2.0	1,086

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 52,995
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District (3 seats)

Incumbent Martine Gulick, incumbent Philip Baruth, and incumbent Tanya Vyhovsky defeated Stewart Ledbetter in the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Martine Gulick	28.6	4,197
✔		Philip Baruth	26.0	3,818
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky	23.6	3,462
	Submit photo	Stewart Ledbetter	21.5	3,159
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	42

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,678
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Vyhovsky received the following endorsements.

• LGBTQ+ Victory Fund

2022

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District (3 seats)

Incumbent Philip Baruth, Martine Gulick, and Tanya Vyhovsky defeated Infinite Culcleasure in the general election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Philip Baruth (D / Vermont Progressive Party)	32.0	15,189
✔		Martine Gulick (D)	29.5	14,007
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky (Vermont Progressive Party / D)	26.1	12,378
	Submit photo	Infinite Culcleasure (Independent)	11.2	5,327
		Other/Write-in votes	1.3	600

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,501
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Philip Baruth	23.7	5,710
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky	21.3	5,140
✔		Martine Gulick	16.4	3,949
	Submit photo	Erhard Mahnke	16.4	3,947
		Dawn Ellis	13.8	3,329
	Submit photo	Andrew Brown (Unofficially withdrew)	8.1	1,941
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	70

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,086
= 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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2020

Note: Due to fusion voting, Vermont candidates may appear on the ballot with multiple party affiliations. In those cases, the first party listed on the official ballot is the person's foremost political party. Please note that our ordering of political parties may not match the official list's order. For those candidates, please consult the official candidate list to see the correct party order.

See also: Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Incumbent Marybeth Redmond and Tanya Vyhovsky defeated Thomas Nelson, Maryse Dunbar, and Varpilah Chase in the general election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marybeth Redmond (D)	34.2	3,234
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky (Vermont Progressive Party / D)	24.0	2,273
		Thomas Nelson (R)	19.5	1,840
	Submit photo	Maryse Dunbar (R)	19.0	1,793
		Varpilah Chase (L)	3.2	302
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	17

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,459
= 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 House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Incumbent Marybeth Redmond and Tanya Vyhovsky defeated Brian Shelden in the Democratic primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marybeth Redmond	48.6	1,359
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky	27.2	762
		Brian Shelden	23.8	666
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	11

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,798
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Maryse Dunbar and Thomas Nelson advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Maryse Dunbar	49.6	601
✔		Thomas Nelson	48.8	591
		Other/Write-in votes	1.6	19

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,211
= 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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Endorsements

To view Vyhovsky's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Marybeth Redmond and incumbent Linda Myers defeated Tanya Vyhovsky in the general election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marybeth Redmond (D)	40.8	2,485
✔		Linda Myers (R)	32.7	1,994
		Tanya Vyhovsky (Vermont Progressive Party / D)	26.3	1,600
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	14

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,093
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Marybeth Redmond advanced from the Democratic primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marybeth Redmond	100.0	632

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 632
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Incumbent Linda Myers advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Linda Myers	100.0	314

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 314
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Vermont Progressive Party primary election

Vermont Progressive Party primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) (2 seats)

Tanya Vyhovsky advanced from the Vermont Progressive Party primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical) on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tanya Vyhovsky	100.0	496

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 496
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tanya Vyhovsky did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Tanya Vyhovsky did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Tanya Vyhovsky completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vyhovsky's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Tanya is a 2003 graduate of Essex High School with a BS from Northeastern University and Masters from the University of Vermont. Tanya is a social worker and long time community organizer. She owns a small counseling practice in Essex where she works with youth and young adults from her community seeing daily the struggles of Vermonters due to broken and failing systems. Tanya has worked to fight for healthcare as a human right, fair and livable wages, paid family medical leave, climate justice, racial justice and campaign finance reform among many causes at the local, state and federal levels. Tanya has worked in conjunction with state government to develop a novel support service for Vermonters under the Mental Health Transformation Grant, this service has saved the state millions and the lives of Vermonters. In response to COVID-19 Tanya organized Essex Mutual Aid to ensure her community's needs were met. In 2018 Tanya first ran for office because she felt the need to fight for systems that lifted us all up and build a Vermont where all of our voices were heard and we all could thrive.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We will only make transformative change that works for all when all of our voices are at the table: particularly those who are historically underrepresented.
• We need systems that lift us all up and allow us all to thrive. We all do better when we all do better.
• COVID-19 has given us a real opportunity to rebuild an economic system that is based in justice and sustainability.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

My platform is build on three pillars:

Economic Justice: fair and livable wages, fair taxation, paid family and medical leave, publicly funded education from pre-k to post secondary, single payer healthcare.
Social Justice: Comprehensive criminal justice reform. closing the racial and gender wage gaps, revitalizing democracy and making voting more accessible and transparent, campaign finance reform.

Environmental Justice: Building a comprehensive just and sustainable economy with green job development, ending subsidy to fossil fuel infrastructure, investing in local sustainable economies

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The person I look up to is Senator Bernie Sanders. The way in which he has tirelessly fought for those who do not have a seat at the table even when it was at a detriment to his movement up the ladder is an inspiration to me. He has inspired a movement of young people and people who have been silenced in our society to fight for a system that works for us all. I hope to be this kind of leader and it has been the honor of a lifetime to be part of his movement for justice.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Our Revolution, Senator Bernie Sanders

Republic Lost, Lawrence Lessig

The Deficit Myth, Stephanie Kelton

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

We need people who listen and collaborate to build transformative policy for the people. We need bold, brave leadership that will fight for the people.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To represent the people that are elected to represent and fight for justice.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember when I was 5 watching images from Dessert Storm.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was as a hostess at a local restaurant. I worked her from when I was 14 to when I was 17 as a way to pay for college classes that my mother could not afford.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Catcher in the Rye, this book spoke to me as a teenager who was struggling to fit in and felt that nobody could possibly know the many struggles we were facing. There is an immense amount of pressure to always be fine and this is damaging and ultimately led me to social work to support people to accept that we do not always have to be ok especially when we do not have our needs met.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I grew up in a single parent, working class home and we did not always have everything we needed. I went to college because of my academic achievement and graduated with a huge amount of student loan debt and found it impossible to afford returning home to my community. I was able to stop commuting and returned to my community in 2014 to live and work but my family has had to ask ourselves if we could afford to stay here and if we were truly welcome here. I chose to run in 2018 and again now for all of the people who have similarly felt left behind by our systems and who have struggled to thrive here.

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

The size is a key difference in the chambers in Vermont. We have 150 State Representatives and 30 State Senators and this difference creates a different way of working together.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think that it is important to have an understanding for how policy works which can be provided and taught. I think it is more important that we have diverse voices that have experienced the impact of policies to help craft policy that will on the ground help people who are struggling.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

We have an aging population and shrinking tax base as well as serious affordability issues. It is estimated that 60% of Vermonters cannot afford a $500 unexpected expense and with the COVID crisis we will have even more struggles to overcome.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

The ideal relationship should be one of collaboration and team work.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes, as a social worker I know the power of relationships is very important. When we have strong relationships we are better able to hear openly different view points and craft transformative policy that no one of us could have imagined on our own.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Non-partisan, non-governmental third party committee made up of local stakeholders.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Health Care

Human Services

Criminal Justice

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Senator Bernie Sanders

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

I am not sure. Right now I am focused on this race and doing the best I can for my constituents if elected.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I have heard many stories about people struggling to get by and many people who are unsure if they can afford to stay here and this is also my story. Every story is meaningful and important and needs to be lifted up and heard.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Tanya Vyhovsky campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District	Won general	$23,904	$16,838
2022	Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District	Won general	$25,010	$23,405
2020	Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical)	Won general	$16,150	N/A**
2018	Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-1 District (Historical)	Lost general	$7,077	N/A**
Grand total			$72,141	$40,242
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** 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.

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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

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 10. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Vermont Conservation Voters 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

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].
In 2023, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 4 to May 12. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Vermont Conservation Voters Legislators are scored based on their voting records on environmental issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 4 to May 12. Vermont Conservation Voters 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.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 6 to May 21. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Vermont Conservation Voters 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.

See also

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Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District

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Vermont State Senate Chittenden Central District

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Vermont State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Kesha Ram Hinsdale

Senators

Addison District

Ruth Hardy (D)

Steven Heffernan (R)

Bennington District

Seth Bongartz (D)

Robert Plunkett (D)

Caledonia District

Scott Beck (R)

Chittenden Central District

Philip Baruth (D)

Martine Gulick (D)

Tanya Vyhovsky (V)

Chittenden North District

Chris Mattos (R)

Chittenden Southeast District

Thomas Chittenden (D)

Virginia Lyons (D)

Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D)

Essex District

Russ Ingalls (R)

Franklin District

Randy Brock (R)

Robert Norris (R)

Grand Isle District

Patrick Brennan (R)

Lamoille District

Richard Westman (R)

Orange District

Larry Hart (R)

Orleans District

Samuel Douglass (R)

Rutland District

Brian Collamore (R)

David Weeks (R)

Terry Williams (R)

Washington District

Ann Cummings (D)

Andrew Perchlik (D)

Anne Watson (D)

Windham District

Wendy Harrison (D)

Nader Hashim (D)

Windsor District

Alison Clarkson (D)

Joe Major (D)

Rebecca White (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (13)

Vermont Progressive Party (1)