Becca Balint Bio
Rebecca A. Balint (born May 4, 1968) is an American politician and progressive Democrat serving as the U.S. representative for Vermont’s at-large congressional district. A former Vermont state senator, she represented Windham County in the Vermont Senate from 2015 to 2023, including service as majority leader from 2017 to 2021 and as president pro tempore from 2021 to 2023. Elected to the U.S. House in 2022, Becca Balint is the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ person to represent Vermont in Congress.
Before entering elective office, Becca Balint worked as a middle school teacher, a rock-climbing instructor, and a columnist for the Brattleboro Reformer. She is widely recognized for the historic nature of her elections in Vermont, where she became the first openly acknowledged lesbian to serve in the state senate and the first woman to lead that chamber as president pro tempore.
Early Life and Background
Rebecca A. Balint was born at the United States Army hospital in Heidelberg, West Germany, on May 4, 1968. She is the daughter of Peter Balint and Sandra (Couchman) Balint, and she was raised in Peekskill, New York. Her Hungarian-Jewish father, whose own father was murdered on a death march from the Mauthausen concentration camp during the Holocaust, immigrated to the United States in 1957, and Becca Balint has described her early interest in politics as a product of seeing how government actions affect women and minorities.
She graduated from Walter Panas High School in 1986, where her experience as a young gay person shaped her outlook. She came out to her friends after high school and later came out to her parents while attending college. Becca Balint attended Barnard College of Columbia University before transferring to Smith College, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and women’s studies. At Smith she served as coxswain for the women’s crew team, an experience that earned her the nickname “the Admiral.”
She went on to earn a Master of Education from Harvard University in 1995 and a Master of Arts in history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2000. After completing her education, Becca Balint moved to Vermont in 1994, where she built a career in teaching, outdoor instruction, and local civic life.
Path to US Politics
Becca Balint’s path to politics began in Brattleboro, Vermont, where she taught middle school history and social studies and worked as a rock-climbing instructor at Farm & Wilderness summer camps in Plymouth, Vermont. She also taught at the Community College of Vermont in Brattleboro and wrote a column for the Brattleboro Reformer, establishing herself as a visible local voice on community and political issues.
Active in local civic life, she served as a town meeting representative and on the Development Review Board in Brattleboro. In the 2000s she supported the Vermont Progressive Party, including its 2000 gubernatorial nominee, Anthony Pollina. These local engagements and community commitments laid the foundation for her later decision to run for the Vermont Senate.
Becca Balint Career
Early Career (2014-2016)
Becca Balint announced her campaign for a Vermont Senate seat from the two-member Windham district in 2014, raising around $13,000 and earning endorsements that included support from state Senate Majority Leader Philip Baruth. With one incumbent not seeking reelection, Becca Balint and fellow incumbent Jeanette White won the Democratic nominations, and Becca Balint secured a seat by placing second in the general election. Her victory made her the first openly acknowledged lesbian to serve in the Vermont Senate.
She was reelected to the Windham seat in 2016, 2018, and 2020 against a mix of independent, Liberty Union, and Republican candidates, steadily building her legislative profile. In 2016 she was also a member of the Victory Leaders Councils formed by the Democratic National Committee, deepening her connections within party politics.
Breakthrough (2017-2021)
Becca Balint’s legislative profile rose sharply in 2017, when the Democratic caucus unanimously selected her as majority leader. That same year, the state Senate voted 20 to 10, with her in favor, to suspend Senator Norman H. McAllister following accusations of sexual assault, and Becca Balint served as chair of the Senate Sexual Harassment Panel. She also served on the Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, Finance, and Rules Committees, establishing a wide policy footprint.
In 2020, the Democratic caucus selected her to succeed Tim Ashe as president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, making her the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ person to serve in that role. As president pro tempore she presided over debates on major legislation, including efforts to ban the gay panic defense, on which she could not vote because she was presiding in place of the lieutenant governor. She also co-led a formal apology for Vermont’s historical involvement in eugenics.
Democratic Era (2022-Present)
On December 13, 2021, Becca Balint announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination to succeed Representative Peter Welch in Vermont’s at-large congressional district in the 2022 election. She raised more than $125,000 within 24 hours of her announcement, pledged to follow Bernie Sanders’s example by refusing corporate political action committee contributions, and ultimately won the Democratic primary and the general election against Republican nominee Liam Madden.
Upon taking office in the U.S. House, Becca Balint was appointed to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on the Budget, and in June 2023 she was selected to replace David Cicilline on the House Committee on the Judiciary. In 2023 she was named to Out magazine’s list of one hundred most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people. In March 2024 she announced her campaign for reelection, winning the 2024 election with 62.29% of the vote.
Notable Events and Milestones
Becca Balint has been a leading voice on foreign policy debates, including voting in 2023 for H.Con.Res. 21, which directed the removal of U.S. troops from Syria. In November 2023 she became the 32nd member of Congress and the first Jewish member to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, and in May 2025 she became an original co-sponsor of the Block the Bombs Act, which would halt military aid to Israel. She has also been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights, including supporting legislation to prohibit conversion therapy on minors and writing in 2024 about efforts to restrict incoming Representative Sarah McBride’s use of Capitol restrooms.
Becca Balint Career Wins
Becca Balint’s political career is marked by a series of historic firsts. She became the first openly acknowledged lesbian to serve in the Vermont Senate in 2015, the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve as Vermont Senate president pro tempore in 2021, and the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to represent Vermont in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2023. She has won elections in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024, reflecting sustained voter support across more than a decade in public office.
Vermont Senate Highlights
Becca Balint won her first election to the Vermont Senate in 2014, defeating an independent and two Liberty Union candidates in the Windham district. She was then reelected in 2016, 2018, and 2020, building a record of consistent victories. Her most significant Vermont Senate win came in 2020, when her colleagues selected her as president pro tempore, a role she used to advance legislation on LGBTQ rights, gun background checks, and protections for reproductive rights.
Other Wins & Achievements
The Vermont Conservation Voters gave Becca Balint a lifetime score of 100% for her environmental record in the state senate. She has also been recognized nationally for her advocacy, including being named to Out magazine’s list of the one hundred most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people in 2023, underscoring her role as a prominent progressive voice in American politics.
Becca Balint Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Becca Balint is the daughter of Peter Balint and Sandra (Couchman) Balint. Her Hungarian-Jewish father immigrated to the United States in 1957, and his father was murdered on a death march from the Mauthausen concentration camp during the Holocaust. Becca Balint has described her family’s experience of the Holocaust as a formative influence on her commitment to government service and civil rights.
Personal Life
Becca Balint lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, with her wife, Elizabeth Wohl. The couple met in 2000, formed a civil union in 2004, and married in 2009 after same-sex marriage was legalized in Vermont. Together they have two children, and Becca Balint has continued to make Brattleboro her home throughout her career in state and national politics.