In the race for Vermont’s single seat in the U.S. House, Democrat Becca Balint could be on the verge of being elected as the first woman and first openly gay person to represent the state in Congress.
“But you also have to believe in possibility and promise and potential, and you have to believe that things will get better, OK, and I do. I do. That is a value that I hold dear,” she told the crowd.
While Vermont is considered to be one of the more liberal states, with a higher-than-average percentage of women serving in the state Legislature, “The really tough contest for her was the primary, where it looked like it was going to be very competitive among a number of very strong candidates, and it wound up being a situation where many of the people who had been identified with the activist left dropped out ,” said Bert Johnson, a professor of American politics at Middlebury College.
She said she decided to run for the state Senate after seeing families struggling due to rising poverty in her county, and that her driving mission is to relieve suffering. Balint has served four two-year terms, including as majority leader from 2017 to 2020. Last year, she was elected president of the Vermont Senate, becoming the first woman and first openly gay person in that role.
Meanwhile, it’s a difficult race for Republicans. GOP state Sen. Randy Brock said he likely will not cast a vote for any of the candidates. He said he has a good working relationship with Balint in the Senate but that politically they are not compatible.