This story was produced in partnership with NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute. VTDigger has partnered with NOTUS to cover federal actions affecting Vermont.
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt, said she would consider running for independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ seat should he decide not to run for reelection in 2030.
“I’m not going to play coy and say ‘No, I’ve never thought about it,’ — of course I think about it,” Balint told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman on the latest episode of the On NOTUS podcast.
“If it happens, it happens,” she said. “Vermonters love people who are doing a great job and are competent. And we love our incumbents. … So if there comes a time when a Senate seat opens up, I will seriously think about it.”
Balint recalled a conversation she had with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Ma, about the opportunities in the Senate versus the House.
“She said it’s just a different level of power than you have in the House to affect positive change on your constituents,” Balint recalled of the conversation.
“(I) would love to be part of that if the timing is right and if it fits what Vermonters need,” she added.
Balint quickly rose through the ranks of the state Senate and was first elected to the U.S. House in 2022. Her election was historic in multiple ways: She is the first woman and first openly gay person to represent Vermont in Congress. And before her election, Vermont was the last state to have never elected a woman to Congress.
The lawmaker discussed how she lacked political role models who were openly gay, but pointed to Harvey Milk as an early example.
“Milk was one of the first openly gay politicians in the country, and he was assassinated,” Balint said. “And so the messages early on were definitely (that) it’s not safe to be out as a politician.”
However, she said it was watching the events of Jan. 6, 2021, unfold at the Capitol from her office at the Vermont statehouse that she felt a call to run for Congress.
“I’ll just be very candid with you, my grandfather was killed in the Holocaust,” Balint told Reese. “I know what authoritarian tendencies look like. I know how the story ends. It doesn’t end well.”
“It was just this deep, deep feeling of like, democracy itself is in danger because of the way that Trump showed up in his role,” she continued. “And I knew it would take a long, long time to undo the damage.”
In each weekly episode of On NOTUS, host Reese Gorman sits down with lawmakers to talk about what inspired them to come to Washington. In recent episodes, House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La, said he wants to take the feelings out of politics, Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Mn, described the ideal congressional candidate, and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wa, explained how she navigates a hyperpartisan Congress.
