Becca Balint
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 was 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. Early life and education. Rebecca A. Balint was born in an United States Army hospital in Heidelberg, West Germany, on May 4, 1968, to Peter and Sandra Balint and was raised in Peekskill, New York. Her grandfather was killed during The Holocaust and her father immigrated to the United States in 1957. She graduated from Walter Panas High School in 1986. Balint graduated as the magna cum laude from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Master of Education degree from Harvard  University in 1995, and with a Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She later worked at the Community College of Vermont in Brattleboro, Vermont. Balint came out as a lesbian in the sixth grade, although she came out formally after high school, after telling another girl she had a crush on her and was discriminated against with "lezzie" being written on her locker. She moved to Vermont in 1994, and moved to Brattleboro with her in 2007. She met Elizabeth Wohl in 2000, formed a civil union with her in 2004, married Wohl in  2009, following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Vermont, and has two children with her. Balint supported the Vermont Progressive Party in the 2000s, and supported their gubernatorial nominee, Anthony Pollina, in the 2000 election. She served as a town meeting representative and on the Development Review Board in Brattleboro. Career. Vermont Senate. Elections. Balint announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the Vermont Senate against Peter Galbraith, who retired, and Jeanette White in 2014. During the campaign she raised the most money in the race with around $13,000, with donations coming people such  as Jane Lynch, and was endorsed by Majority Leader Philip Baruth. She won the Democratic nomination alongside White and placed second in the general election ahead of an independent and two Liberty Union candidates. Her election made her the first lesbian to serve in the state senate. She won reelection in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections against independent, Liberty Union, and Republican candidates. Tenure. In 2017, the state senate voted twenty to ten, with Balint in favor, to suspend Senator Norman H. McAllister following accusations of sexual assault, his arrest in May 2015, in the Vermont State House, and  a criminal trial against him. Balint served as the chair of the Senate Sexual Harassment Panel. During her tenure in the state senate she has served on the Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, Finance, and Rules committees. The Democratic caucus unanimously voted to make Balint the Majority Leader in 2017. In 2020, Democratic caucus selected her to replace Tim Ashe as the President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, and she became the first woman and LGBT person to serve in the role. During the 2016 election she was a member of the Victory Leaders Councils formed by the  Democratic National Committee. During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries she and other members of the Vermont General Assembly declined to endorse any candidate for president. United States House of Representatives campaign. Senator Patrick Leahy announced on November 15, 2021, that he would not seek reelection to the United States Senate in the 2022 election. Peter Welch, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district, announced that he would run to replace Leahy. Balint announced on December 13, that she would seek the Democratic nomination for the seat in the 2022 election. She  raised over $125,000 within twenty-four hours of her announcement. She stated that she would follow Bernie Sanders' example on fundraising by not accepting contributions from corporate political action committees, but accepting political action committee donations from labor unions. Political positions. Balint sponsored legislation to limit police involvement with immigration enforcement by the federal government opposing President Donald Trump's support for a federal registry on religious and immigration status. She voted in favor of expanding background check on gun sales in 2018. The Vermont Conservation Voters gave her a lifetime score of 100%. Balint opposes voter identification stating  that voter fraud is extremely rare and that the laws are used to restrict people from voting. She supported legislation that sent mail-in ballots to all voters and stated that it was a part of Vermont's legacy of making voting easier. She sponsored legislation to implement ranked choice voting for presidential and congressional elections in Vermont. She supported legislation to prohibit conversion therapy on minors. She supported legislation banning the gay panic defense, which passed unanimously in the state senate, but was unable to vote in favor of it due to her presiding in place of Lieutenant Governor  Molly Gray. She and Speaker Jill Krowinski gave an apology for Vermont's involvement in eugenics including legislation from 1931 which supported an eugenics study conducted by Henry Farnham Perkins. In 2021, an amendment to the Constitution of Vermont to codify Roe v. Wade passed in the state senate twenty-six to four, with Balint in favor. In 2016, Balint opposed legislation to legalize marijuana despite her support for legalization stating that she "believed this bill does not leave room for the home grown and the small growers who would like to be a part of this new economy." She  initially voted against marijuana legalization in a sixteen to thirteen vote in 2017, but became the only member in the state senate to change her vote after an amendment by Senator John S. Rodgers reduced the cultivation application fee that ranged from $15,000 to $25,000 to $3,000 to $7,500.