A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, she represented District 42A, which included portions of Ramsey County, Minnesota in the north-central Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Yarusso grew up primarily in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and graduated from Columbia Heights High School.

[1] After college, she worked in the lab as an engineer for General Mills and as an industrial trainer and self-employed engineering consultant for HB Fuller, 3M, and Ecolab, as well as teaching at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Hill-Murray School, the University of Minnesota, and as a freelance tutor.

[2] Yarusso was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012 to an open seat created by post-census redistricting.

She lost re-election to Republican Randy Jessup in 2016.