[1] His father, Nikolay, was a career officer, died at the front, and mother worked as a teacher.

From 1971 to 1975, he was the deputy head of the agriculture department of the Ivanovo Regional Committee of the CPSU, and the First Secretary of the Komsomolsk District Committee of the CPSU of the Ivanovo Oblast.

From 1994 to 1996, Tikokhmirov was the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Ivanovo Oblast.

In 1996, he was appointed[2] and then elected governor of the Ivanovo Oblast (50.12% in the first round), ex officio was a member of the Federation Council, and was deputy chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Policy.

From 2001 to 2005, he was a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Ivanovo Oblast of the third convocation, chair of the United Russia faction.