2026 Progressive endorsed Candidates
More endorsement meetings are scheduled across the state and will likely result in many additional endorsements
Amanda janoo
An economist, community advocate, and policy leader, Amanda Janoo has dedicated her life’s work – in Vermont and around the globe – to helping governments build more resilient, people-centered economies that actually work for communities, not just the wealthy and powerful. A graduate of Newton Elementary, Hanover High School, and Macalester College, she went on to become a Fulbright researcher and study development economics at the University of Cambridge before working with governments, international institutions, and the United Nations in various countries.
In 2018, Amanda moved home permanently and co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance of Vermont (WEAV), a broad coalition working to transform the state’s economy into one that is sustainable, inclusive, and benefits all Vermonters. Before deciding to run for office, Janoo served on the Board of the ACLU of Vermont and was a Steering Committee Member of the Fund Vermont’s Future Initiative, a coalition working to reform Vermont’s tax system so it is fairer, more affordable for working families, and able to fund the services Vermonters rely on, from schools and healthcare to housing and climate resilience.
Janoo grew up in Strafford, VT and now rents in Burlington.
Tim Ashe
Tim Ashe has been the Deputy State Auditor since 2021. He’s the Board President of the Community Health Centers, the largest non-hospital primary care organization in Vermont. He spent a decade developing affordable housing in communities throughout northwestern Vermont. Tim worked in the Vermont office of then-Congressman Bernie Sanders, served in municipal government as a City Councilor, and was a State Senator for twelve years, the last four as its leader. He holds degrees from UVM and the Kennedy School of Government. When not working or volunteering, he can usually be found on a soccer field.
Statewide Candidates
Candidate for Secretary of StateDONATE
Rachel Shaw
Rachel was born and raised in Massachusetts. She attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy studying Emergency Management and Homeland Security while serving in the Massachusetts Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer. She worked in HAZMAT response, responding to oil and chemical spills all over the East Coast. At the age of 26, she moved to Savannah, Georgia where she continued her work in HAZMAT for a time, until starting my own small construction business in 2018. It was then that she met her wife Hannah and her step-daughter. They later had a son and decided to move to Bennington in 2023.
Since moving here, she has worked in the hospitality industry. She has learned first-hand about our incredible ecotourism economy and the small businesses that contribute so much to our vibrant mountain communities. Raising a family is never an easy feat, but with a community that constantly has your back, it certainly makes things easier. Like many other working Vermonters, her children benefit from both Dr. Dynasaur and the childcare subsidies. She believes it is important that families continue to be able to access these important social programs, and that we continue to work to support each other. Bringing affordable housing to our communities, protecting rural Vermont’s schools and land rights, bringing doctors to our hospitals, and fighting for universal primary care are all things you can expect from her.
Meeting people in our community has filled her with an immense amount of hope. Learning about our history and the future we are building has motivated her. Every Vermonter deserves to feel heard and supported by our government, and it is this idea that makes her proud to be a candidate. She hopes to engage with every Vermonter as we work together to build a prosperous future
Elizabeth Burrows
Elizabeth has represented the Windsor-1 district at the Vermont House of Representatives for the last six years — and now she is running for the Vermont Senate.
If you’re like Elizabeth, you are frustrated by political machines: they make decisions on your behalf without fully understanding the effects on working class people. They create bandaid changes that don’t dig down and address root causes. This is what called her to public service.
Vermont is at several crossroads—education, healthcare, housing, jobs, and economic stability all hang in the balance. We can stand up for working families and actually address these problems. We can secure primary care for every Vermonter and stand up to private insurance companies. We can make housing easier for Vermonters to find and not wealthy out-of-state developers. We can fund education in a smarter way without overwhelming Vermonters with high property taxes. We can create an economy where our children see a life for themselves at home in Vermont.
This campaign is about truth, inclusion, creating together and realizing where our potential could take us, and working to empower Vermont’s people and communities who get left out or just plain sidelined. Every one of us has the right to live a decent life and have their needs met. Elizabeth is here to help us get that.
This campaign will be focused on building community and bringing neighbors together. We are fueled by supporters all over this county and donations of all types.
If you are ready for a stronger Windsor County, sign up to volunteer and donate. Everyone has a role and home in this campaign.
Tanya Vyhovsky
Rachel Shaw
Rachel was born and raised in Massachusetts. She attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy studying Emergency Management and Homeland Security while serving in the Massachusetts Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer. She worked in HAZMAT response, responding to oil and chemical spills all over the East Coast. At the age of 26, she moved to Savannah, Georgia where she continued her work in HAZMAT for a time, until starting my own small construction business in 2018. It was then that she met her wife Hannah and her step-daughter. They later had a son and decided to move to Bennington in 2023.
Since moving here, she has worked in the hospitality industry. She has learned first-hand about our incredible ecotourism economy and the small businesses that contribute so much to our vibrant mountain communities. Raising a family is never an easy feat, but with a community that constantly has your back, it certainly makes things easier. Like many other working Vermonters, her children benefit from both Dr. Dynasaur and the childcare subsidies. She believes it is important that families continue to be able to access these important social programs, and that we continue to work to support each other. Bringing affordable housing to our communities, protecting rural Vermont’s schools and land rights, bringing doctors to our hospitals, and fighting for universal primary care are all things you can expect from her.
Meeting people in our community has filled her with an immense amount of hope. Learning about our history and the future we are building has motivated her. Every Vermonter deserves to feel heard and supported by our government, and it is this idea that makes her proud to be a candidate. She hopes to engage with every Vermonter as we work together to build a prosperous future.
Candidate for State Senate - Bennington CountyDONATE
State senate candidates
Hannah Doton Sessions is running to be one of your two State Senators representing Addison County and the adjoining towns of Huntington, Buel’s Gore and Rochester.
Hannah is running because her life experience has taught her not only to work hard but also to ask questions and listen — three skills that will help her represent you in Montpelier. She wants to build pragmatic coalitions to help improve the lives of current and future Vermonters and Addison County residents. Hannah believes that the government needs to work for the common good of all.
Hannah loves Vermont and Addison County. She was born and raised here by parents who exposed her to all that this incredible area has to offer. Her family roots go back to a farm in Vermont in 1786 (before Vermont was a state). My great-grandfather, Edward Bliss Doton, served in the State Legislature in the 1940s, and her relatives still farm on that hillside near Pomfret. She’s always known that Vermont is a special place.
Hannah graduated from local schools and came back to Addison County after attending Bates College in Maine where she majored in Political Science and Studio Art. She’s a farmer, a business owner, and a parent. For 25 years, she and her husband have owned and operated a farm and cheese business. She knows first-hand what it takes to start and run a business in this state. During that time, she also served for decades on several local and state-wide boards, broadening her knowledge about government affairs and how state policies and funding affect the daily lives of Vermonters. Their two kids are now grown and looking to someday settle in Vermont.
Addison County is incredibly diverse and complex. It includes farms of all sizes and accompanying infrastructure, working forests, lake communities, manufacturing, nature, recreation, incredible arts, a vibrant retirement community, the nation’s smallest city, and a world-renowned college. It’s such a special place because of all of us. Hannah has been blessed to know and be inspired by many parts of our community throughout her life.
Monique Priestley
Monique was first elected in November 2022. Her 2023 legislator cohort was the largest in Vermont’s history. Her two-year term began on January 4, 2023, representing Orange-2 (Bradford, Fairlee, and West Fairlee). After being re-elected, she began her second term on January 8, 2025.
She knows that Vermonters are strong. We are resilient. We are determined. We love this beautiful state we call home. At the same time, we, our loved ones, our friends, and our neighbors struggle to secure housing, buy food, combat isolation, find transportation, launch and maintain businesses, and access services.
She has spent more than a decade working in our communities, engaging in the issues, and learning about both our challenges and opportunities. Perhaps our greatest asset as a small state is our people – our accessibility to one another, our willingness to help, and our shared desire to craft a better life for those around us.
With a background in technology, economic development, and community engagement, she is uniquely positioned to lead strong, bipartisan policy efforts that impact Vermonters in critical ways: rural development, consumer protection (data privacy, software product safety and liability), artificial intelligence, automation, the future of work, and entrepreneurship.
She is deeply proud to serve the towns of Bradford, Fairlee, and West Fairlee – and to continue this work with even greater reach.
After her first term in the House, she wasn’t sure she’d stay in elected office. But something shifted this past year. She found a way to lead that aligns with her values – staying grounded in authenticity, community, and the belief that government should work for everyone.
Over the past three years, she’s fought for rural equity, data privacy, consumer protection, and youth engagement. She’s worked to make government more transparent and accessible, bringing her background in technology, nonprofit leadership, and grassroots organizing to every conversation. What drives her is connection – the spark that happens when someone walks into the State House for the first time and realizes they belong there.
This campaign isn’t just about a Senate seat. It’s about the future of Vermont – our housing, climate resilience, and economic fairness. It’s about restoring trust, tackling affordability head-on, and rebuilding a sense of shared purpose in our communities. Vermonters sent a clear message this year: affordability isn’t a talking point; it’s a daily reality. It’s time for leadership that listens and responds.
She is running a campaign that invites people in, gives them hope, and reminds them that they are part of something bigger. Together, we can build what’s next – a Vermont where everyone feels heard, included, and empowered to shape their future.
HANNAH SESSIONS
Tanya’s journey to the Statehouse is not one that was mapped out for her. Growing up working class, Tanya did not see a path to become the social worker and State Senator she is today. Working as much as possible in order to make ends meet while going to school, starting when she was a student in Essex High and continuing straight through her undergrad years at Northeastern and grad school at UVM, she understands the tough financial decisions that get made every day by many Vermonters. As a therapist with a small practice in Essex Junction working primarily with youth and young adults, Tanya sees up close the struggles that youth and their families are facing. She made the decision to run for office in 2018 after realizing that the government did not seem set up to work for her, her neighbors, or most Vermonters and that she had a perspective that needed to be heard in Montpelier. She has seen over and over again first as a State Representative and now a State Senator that the people who are most affected by policy decisions are rarely at the decision-making table. As the only renter in the Senate and one of the few who works full-time in addition to serving, she continues to bring the realities of the lack of affordable housing, high cost of living, and a failing social safety net to policy debates.
Before she ever stepped foot in the Statehouse, she was on the ground as a community organizer fighting for universal healthcare and connecting neighbors with resources. The understanding that the real work of supporting communities has to include relationships with people across social and economic divides has informed everything she does as a Senator, a social worker, and a community member. She prioritizes bringing people into the Statehouse who are usually left out of testimony to make sure their voices and stories are heard and respected. She frequently works with grassroots groups to get the people with the least amount of political power to the committee table. This has led her to policy wins that seemed impossible at the beginning of a session including protecting teachers’ pensions, passing S. 209 and S. 227 that protect all Vermonters from civil detainment – regardless of immigration status – at schools and other public buildings, and rejecting forced mergers for public schools. She was deeply honored to have her work supporting public schools recognized with the 2026 VT National Education Association’s Martha W. Allen Friend of Public Education award.
In her free time she loves working on international workers’ solidarity movements and hiking with her feisty, opinionated, and beloved dog Laika.
SARAH GEORGE
Sarah grew up passionate about understanding both the law and the human mind, which is why she pursued degrees in criminal justice, psychology, forensic psychology, and eventually earned her law degree from Vermont Law and Graduate School.
She started in the office as a Deputy State's Attorney, spending over six years learning about this community from the ground up — its people, its challenges, and its immense potential. In January 2017, she became the Chittenden County State's Attorney, and she haven't looked back since.
Chittenden County is a special place. It's home to nearly one-third of Vermont's population, the most diverse county in the state, and a community that genuinely believes in a smarter, more progressive approach to public safety. That spirit drives everything she does.
Since taking office, she's worked to reimagine what a State's Attorney's Office can look like — reducing unnecessary charges, expanding diversion programs, eliminating requests for cash bail, and decreasing incarceration where it doesn't serve a genuine public safety goal. Real accountability means investing in victims, supporting families, and giving people a real path forward.
To Sarah, a prosecutor's job is to seek justice — not convictions at any cost. That means respecting everyone who walks through the door, following the evidence honestly, and making the hard calls even when they're not the popular ones.
Sarah lives here. She loves this work. And she’s not done yet — there's still work to do to build the safer, fairer Chittenden County we all deserve.
county officials
Matt Gile
Matt is a school librarian, labor activist, and proud progressive. He is running for state rep to represent working class people in their struggle to live a thriving, meaningful life. He’s been a part of the Winooski community for a decade and he wants to spend the rest of his life here. As your state rep, he promises to work hard every day to ensure that everyone is safe, supported, and able to live their best life.
Matt grew up in Colchester and has been working for libraries his whole life. Everyone is welcome in a library and he believes that spirit should extend across our state. Matt is the Librarian at Winooski School District, a position he’s held for 10 years, where he serves all students from preschool to 12th grade. Before that, he worked as a library assistant for Colchester High School, his alma mater. While attending UVM, he was a clerk at the Burnham Library and drove the bookmobile in the summer. He love libraries so much that he married a librarian… in a library! Matt’s wife Shannon is the librarian for Milton High School and they were married in the Bixby Library in Vergennes.
Matt is an active member of his union, the Winooski Education Association (WEA), where he has served as President and Building Representative. Currently, he is the Community Action Chair and they’re working to build labor power through educational events for union members like the People’s Summit. They also mobilize mass demonstrations such as the May Day Strong Rally that marched on the ICE data facility in Williston, and the 2025 Labor Day Rally in Burlington. He is the Labor Advisor to the Coordinating Committee for the Vermont Progressive Party. For twelve years he’s served as the Communication Chair of the VT School Library Association, and he hosts the Storytime Jam at our annual conference every year.
Matt was a founding member of the Central Vermont Democratic Socialists of America — now Green Mountain DSA (GMDSA) — and he’s an active member of our Labor Committee. He is a proud member of GMDSA because he believes that we are all entitled to an equal say in how the world works. A world where billionaires dictate the conditions we work and live under — and wield the levers of our government’s power — is a world that can never be just. Socialism is a commitment to the principle that we are all entitled to equal power to shape our society, and the belief that with power, we will choose care and love over domination and exploitation.
Matt loves the beauty of Vermont, and he feels most alive when he’s out exploring our woods. He’s run the Chill Snowboarding program in Winooski for the past 6 years and he’s had the privilege to join the Winooski Wanders (led by students!) on many outings. Currently Matt serves on the board of the Bolton Outdoor Adventure Fund, whose mission is to give underrepresented kids the opportunity to explore the outdoors. Previously he served on the board for the Waterbury Area Trail Alliance, a chapter of the Vermont Mountain Biking Association. They built and maintained trails for a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable future.
Jeffrey Peterson
Jeffrey is running for State House in Chittenden-16 to take on rising costs, broken systems, and a status quo that leaves too many Vermonters behind.
Growing up in Burlington’s New North End and going through our public schools, Jeffrey understood from a young age that our future is determined by the people who show up. At 16, he joined the Wards 4&7 Neighborhood Planning Assembly as its youngest-ever steering committee member. He interned for CEDO and saw how the government can set its priorities for people, not corporate interests.
The community shaped not only his values, but his sense of efficacy in the world at a time when functioning democracy feels increasingly out of reach. He’s built a career at the intersection of public service and grassroots action: working for Vermont’s congressional delegation in Washington, advancing climate-tech solutions on the west coast, and leading operations at a Vermont-based startup that champions small businesses.
Vermont is at a turning point where it feels like the values that held us together for so long are breaking down in the face of intractable crises: A healthcare system on the brink. Housing that’s either unsafe or unaffordable, if you can find it at all. Fewer and fewer ways to get around without a private vehicle. And climate catastrophes that exacerbate all of this instability. From housing and healthcare to climate and democracy, he will fight for bold, systemic change — not band-aid fixes and more of the same.
He’s proud to have the support of outgoing Representative Kate Logan, who has been a strong and principled advocate for Burlington in her two terms. He’s also running with the support of Green Mountain DSA, Vermont’s chapter of democratic socialist organizers focused on improving conditions for all people, everywhere.
This campaign is 100% people powered so I’ll always be accountable to this community.
State Representative candidates
Candidate for State Representative - Chittenden-15Brian Cina
Brian was born and raised in northeastern New Jersey. He moved to New Hampshire in 1994 to attend Dartmouth College, where he was a Senior Fellow and graduated with an A.B. in Music. Brian has served in the Vermont legislature since 2017.
In 1998, he moved to Burlington, Vermont and served as an Americorps member at Spectrum Youth and Family Services. From 1999-2003, Cina continued working in human services, providing restorative justice and outreach to youth and families. From 2003-2005, he attended the University of Vermont, earning a Master of Social Work degree. From 2005-2010, Cina worked at Transitional Services for Youth and Families, providing family support services and supervising the social services program.
Since 2010, he has operated a private practice in clinical social work/psychotherapy located in downtown Burlington. Cina is a community organizer and activist. He co-founded ISGOOD (Isham Street Gardening and Other Optimistic Doings), a neighborhood organization that has reduced crime through gardening and other community service activities since 2005. From 2018-2019, Cina served on the Vermont Artificial Intelligence Task Force as the member with social work expertise in human rights and ethics. Cina served as a School Board member from 2014-2017. He led the search for a new superintendent in 2015 and was the chair of the Finance Committee. Cina is also a musician and performance artist.
Emery mattheis
Emery grew up in Indiana in a small, one-factory town. For over a century, our community’s economy depended on this factory. When it was caught illegally polluting the river, instead of taking ownership of their actions, they moved overseas. The town never recovered. Emery moved from there when he was 14, to another rural town in western North Carolina. He stayed there for college and gained the work trade of painting and drywalling, a profession he still does when he can today. His family then moved to Vermont in 2017 for him to attend Vermont Law School. In 2019, they decided Randolph would be our home. They bought a vacant house and began fixing it up, and in 2020 he began working for the Town of Randolph.
He was the assistant administrator for both the zoning department and the town manager for a year, then he was elected to be our town clerk and treasurer. His three-year term taught him so much about our town, our residents, and our various challenges they face as a community. Emery is now serving a two-year term on the Randolph Selectboard. What he’s heard most often from residents can be boiled down to one phrase: “Things aren’t getting easier.”
Emery and his wife have two kids and they both work full-time, and share one car. They’ve been tightening the belt lately, like most folks. Emery agrees that we are moving into more difficult times, both nationally and locally. But he disagrees with the hands-off approach. Towns in decline don’t get better by not investing in them – no more than houses do. He believes need planning, maintenance, and investment.
Candidate for State Representative - Orange-Washington-Addison 
Candidate for State Representative - Caledonia-1David Tucker
David chose to live in the Northeast Kingdom because of the kind of place it is. These are towns where people look out for each other — where people work hard, take pride in what they do, and don’t ask for much, just that things function the way they should.
It’s a place with a strong sense of community where neighbors step up for each other.
That matters to David and to a lot of people who live here.
David came to the Kingdom 53 years ago to finish college at Goddard College. My senior project was to apprentice as a blacksmith and document the life and work of Orien Dunn, a blacksmith in Victory, Vt.
It was then that he first fell in love with the Kingdom. He pursued a career in human services and learned to appreciate the working landscape by growing most of his vegetables, working with his neighbor to raise grass fed beef and bring his sugar woods into production. He cut firewood and raised two wonderfully strong and independent daughters.
He enjoys exploring all of the outdoor recreational activities in the district with his partner Meri Simon. They’ve paddled and camped along the Connecticut River Paddlers Trail, fished in the Comerford Reservoir, hiked on Chamberlin Mountain, skied the trails at McIndoes Academy, and cycled nearly every backroad in the district.
During his career in human services, David worked directly with individuals and families, saw where systems break down—and has taken an active role in ensuring that communities are empowered to address problems and that support reaches people more effectively.
David had a leadership role in Northeast Kingdom Youth Services, where the Court Diversion Program and the Guardian Ad Litem training efforts were started.
David was honored to be accepted into Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government where he earned a Masters Degree before returning to the Kingdom with renewed skills and energy.
At Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA), he led efforts to establish the Gilman Housing Trust (now known as Rural Edge) to create housing that’s affordable, provided start-up support to Rural Community Transportation (RCT), which provides public transportation and transportation to needed medical services. He also provided ongoing, strong leadership for Head Start and other early childhood programs.
He has been a board member of Umbrella, an alternate representative to the NEK Broadband board, and worked in partnership with many community groups and organizations to ensure that the Kingdom continues to be the very best place to live, work and raise a family.
These experiences, and others like them, taught David how to bring people together, build something that lasts, and actually get things done.
David served as Director of the Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) which provides funding, training, and oversight to Community Action Agencies and dozens of other grassroots anti-poverty organizations across Vermont to provide food, shelter, and support services to our neighbors in need.
David gained a hands-on understanding of how the legislative process works and how to navigate it, he helped get Weatherization funding reauthorized for the first time while at OEO.
David also served on the Housing Vermont board, was a founding member of the board of Public Assets, and served several terms as a board member of Voices for Vermont Children.
This experience is what David will bring to the legislature – he is running to focus on practical things that actually make daily life here better.