MONTPELIER, Vt. — The leader of Vermont’s state Senate, Becca Balint, won the Democratic Party primary on Tuesday for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, meaning she could become the first woman and the first openly gay person to represent the state in Congress.
In deep blue Vermont, it’s likely the Democratic candidate will also clinch the general election in November. A win by Balint, who is white, would help erase what some consider to be the blot on the liberal state’s reputation of only being represented by white men.