Rebecca A Balint was born on May 4,1968 and 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.
33 Facts About Becca Balint
2.
Becca Balint 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.
3.
Becca Balint was educated at Walter Panas High School, Smith College, Harvard University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst.
4.
Becca Balint 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.
5.
Becca Balint was elected to the State Senate in 2014, becoming the first lesbian to serve there.
6.
Becca Balint 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.
7.
Becca Balint was elected to the US House in the 2022 election.
8.
Becca Balint is the first woman and openly LGBT person to represent Vermont in Congress.
9.
Rebecca A Balint was born at the United States Army hospital in Heidelberg, West Germany, on May 4,1968, the daughter of Peter and Sandra Balint, and raised in Peekskill, New York.
10.
Becca Balint's grandfather was killed during the Holocaust and her Hungarian-Jewish father immigrated to the US in 1957.
11.
Becca Balint graduated from Walter Panas High School in 1986.
12.
Becca Balint became interested in politics at an early age, which she later attributed to having been raised in a family affected by the Holocaust and observing how government actions affect women and minorities, including gays and lesbians.
13.
Becca Balint attended Barnard College of Columbia University before transferring to Smith College.
14.
At Smith College, Becca Balint was coxswain for the women's crew team, who nicknamed her "the Admiral" because of her leadership skills.
15.
Becca Balint met Elizabeth Wohl in 2000; they formed a civil union in 2004, moved to Brattleboro in 2007, and got married in 2009, after same-sex marriage was legalized in Vermont.
16.
Becca Balint supported the Vermont Progressive Party in the 2000s, and supported their gubernatorial nominee, Anthony Pollina, in the 2000 election.
17.
Becca Balint served as a town meeting representative and on the Development Review Board in Brattleboro.
18.
In 2014, Becca Balint announced her campaign for a Vermont Senate seat from the two-member Windham district.
19.
Becca Balint raised the most money in the race, around $13,000, with donations from people such as Jane Lynch, and was endorsed by Majority Leader Philip Baruth.
20.
Becca Balint's election made her the first lesbian to serve in the state senate.
21.
Becca Balint was reelected in 2016,2018, and 2020 against independent, Liberty Union, and Republican candidates.
22.
Becca Balint served on the Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, Finance, and Rules Committees.
23.
On December 13, Becca Balint announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination to succeed Welch in the 2022 election.
24.
Becca Balint selected Natalie Silver, Welch's former communications director, to manage her campaign.
25.
Becca Balint raised over $125,000 within 24 hours of her announcement.
26.
Becca Balint said she would follow Bernie Sanders's example by not accepting campaign contributions from corporate political action committees, but accepting political action committee donations from labor unions.
27.
Becca Balint won the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican nominee Liam Madden in the general election.
28.
Becca 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.
29.
Becca Balint voted to expand background checks on gun sales in 2018.
30.
Becca Balint opposes voter identification on the grounds that voter fraud is extremely rare and that voter ID laws are used to restrict people from voting.
31.
Becca Balint supported legislation that sent all voters mail-in ballots and said that it was a part of Vermont's legacy of making voting easier.
32.
Becca Balint sponsored legislation to implement ranked choice voting for presidential and congressional elections in Vermont.
33.
Becca Balint supported legislation banning the gay panic defense, which passed unanimously in the state senate, but was unable to vote for it because she was presiding in place of Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray.