Becca Balint

Becca Balint (born Rebecca A. Balint; May 4, 1968) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Vermont's at-large congressional district since January 2023. A Democrat, she previously represented Windham County in the Vermont Senate from 2011 to 2023, including as president pro tempore from 2017 onward, during which she facilitated bipartisan negotiations on issues like education funding and opioid crisis response. Balint is the first woman and first openly lesbian member of Congress from Vermont, elected in 2022 after winning the Democratic primary following the retirement of longtime Representative Peter Welch. Born in Heidelberg, Germany, to U.S. military parents and raised in upstate New York, she earned a B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1990 and an M.Ed. from Antioch University New England in 2002, working as a public school teacher before entering politics. In Congress, Balint serves on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability Committees, focusing on progressive priorities such as expanding access to mental health care, addressing climate change through renewable energy incentives, and protecting reproductive rights, while drawing attention for her early call as a Jewish member for a Gaza ceasefire amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.