In July 2004, Ashe successfully sought a seat on the Burlington City Council in a special election to replace
Carina Driscoll. He won re-election in 2005 and 2007. Ashe became the youngest member of the Council when elected. Ashe worked at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity from 2005 to 2006. In the Fall of 2006, Ashe became a Project Manager at Cathedral Square, a non-profit developer of affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities. In November 2008 Ashe was elected to the Vermont Senate. He won on a Democratic/Progressive
fusion ticket and was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders. While seeking the Democratic nomination for Mayor on November 13, 2011, Ashe tied Miro Weinberger in the party caucus, with each receiving 540 votes after three rounds. This resulted in a second caucus, which took place on December 11, 2011. In January 2017, Ashe was elected President Pro Tempore of the Vermont Senate by his fellow senators. While in office he served on the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary Committees. On July 23, 2019, Ashe endorsed
Bernie Sanders for president, but Sanders lost the nomination to
Joe Biden, who won the November 2020 general election. On January 14, 2020, he announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He went on to lose the Democratic primary to
Molly Gray, a political newcomer running for office for the first time. Gray received 46% of the vote, and Ashe received 35%. In April 2021,
Doug Hoffer, the
Vermont State Auditor, announced that he had hired Ashe as his deputy. Ashe succeeded Andrew Stein, who left the deputy auditor's post for a position with the Vermont Department of Taxes. ==References==