Record number LGBTQ candidates on November ballot
A record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for office in November, according to newly compiled data, and some breakthrough victories are likely.
Democrat Becca Balint is favored to win Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat, becoming the first woman and first openly gay person to represent the state in Congress.
Balint said she is someone who Vermonters did not know by name, despite having served in the state legislature for several years. The large amount of support she has seen during her campaign run for the U.S. House of Representatives has excited her.
“It’s going to be so exciting to be the first woman to represent Vermont and the first openly gay person to represent Vermont. It’s an incredible honor. I never really thought that that I would be here. I don’t come from a political family. I did not have those connections. And, you know, for a long time, it was really just a pipe dream,” she said.
But for Balint, the reason she is running for Congress is personal, outside of her LGBTQ identity.
“My grandfather was killed in the Holocaust, and I understand what it looks like when democracies start to fail. I feel like that’s where we’re at right now. So that’s really my why, that’s what’s driving me to run right now,” she said.
Balint said now is a time for courage, and vows to not let democracy fail in her lifetime.
