Becca Balint DEMDemocrat

Rebecca A. Balint (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 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.