Becca Balint DEMDemocrat

Rebecca A. Balint (born May 4, 1968) is an American educator, writer, and politician who serves as a member of the Vermont Senate from Windham County, Vermont, as a member of the Democratic Party and as the President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate since 2021. She served as the Majority Leader in the state senate from 2017 to 2021. 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 at the Community College of Vermont in Brattleboro, Vermont. She served as a town meeting representative and on the Development Review Board in Brattleboro. She was elected to the state senate alongside Jeanette White in 2014, becoming the first lesbian to serve in the state senate. Balint was selected to serve as the Majority Leader by the Democratic caucus in 2017, and as the President pro tempore in 2021. She is the first woman and LGBT person to serve as President pro tempore in Vermont. Balint is running for the Democratic nomination to succeed Peter Welch in the United States House of Representatives from the Vermont's at-large congressional district in the 2022 election.