Becca Balint

Becca Balint
Official portrait, 2023
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Vermont's at-large district
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byPeter Welch
President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
In office
January 6, 2021 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byTim Ashe
Succeeded byPhilip Baruth
Majority Leader of the Vermont Senate
In office
January 6, 2017 – January 6, 2021
Preceded byPhilip Baruth
Succeeded byAlison H. Clarkson
Member of the Vermont Senate
from the Windham district
In office
January 7, 2015 – January 3, 2023
Serving with Jeanette White
Preceded byPeter Galbraith
Succeeded byWendy Harrison
Nader Hashim
Personal details
Born (1968-05-04) May 4, 1968 (age 56)
Heidelberg, West Germany (now Germany)
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseElizabeth Wohl
Children2
EducationBarnard College
Smith College (BA)
Harvard University (MEd)
University of Massachusetts, Amherst (MA)
WebsiteHouse website
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Rebecca A. Balint (/ˈbælɪnt/ BAL-int; born May 4, 1968) is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party. She served as a member of the Vermont Senate from Windham County from 2015 to 2023, as majority leader from 2017 to 2021, and as president pro tempore from 2021 to 2023.

Balint was born in Heidelberg, West Germany, and raised in Peekskill, New York. She was educated at Walter Panas High School, Smith College, Harvard University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst. She moved to Vermont in 1994, and worked as a teacher, rock-climbing instructor, and columnist for the Brattleboro Reformer, and was active in local politics. Balint was elected to the State Senate in 2014, becoming the first openly acknowledged lesbian to serve there. She was selected to serve as majority leader and later elected president pro tempore, the first woman and openly LGBT person to do so in Vermont.

Balint was elected to the U.S. House in the 2022 election. She is the first woman and openly LGBT person to represent Vermont in Congress. This was also a national milestone, as Vermont was the only state that had not previously elected a woman to Congress.[1]

  1. ^ Shivaram, Deepa (November 8, 2022). "Vermont ends streak as the last state to send a woman to Congress". NPR. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.