By VDC staff

Rep. Ashley Bartley, a Fairfax Republican and vice chair of the House General and Housing Committee, announced Tuesday she is running for the Vermont Senate seat currently held by Sen. Chris Mattos in the Chittenden North District.

Former Democrat Sen. Irene Wrenner of Essex announced last month she would seek the seat she lost to Mattos in 2024.

Bartley said she will seek to represent Milton, Fairfax, Westford and part of Essex Town following Mattos’s decision not to seek re-election.

In a campaign announcement released May 19, Bartley said Vermont’s affordability and housing challenges motivated her decision to run for the Senate.

“Vermont is facing an affordability crisis that is pricing families out of the communities they love,” Bartley said.

Bartley was first elected to the House in 2022, representing the Franklin-1 district of Fairfax and Georgia. In addition to her role on the General and Housing Committee, she serves on the House Ethics Panel, the Canvassing Committee, the Advisory Council on Child Poverty and Strengthening Families, and the Basic Needs Budget Technical Advisory Committee.

“The issues facing Vermonters are real and they are not new,” Bartley said. “Housing, affordability, Act 181, property taxes, and education finance reform are all interconnected.”

Bartley also pointed to growing public opposition to portions of Act 181 land-use regulations.

“We’re seeing that proof in Act 181 now where Vermonters are rising up,” she said. “Whether you live in a small town, struggle to make ends meet, or don’t fit neatly into one political box — your voice matters.”

Mattos endorsed Bartley in the announcement.

Bartley, a lifelong Vermonter and graduate of the University of Vermont, currently works as a human resources manager for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. She lives in Fairfax with her husband and two children.