Balint Secures Third House Term

Becca Balint will return to Washington for a third term in the U.S. House.

The Associated Press called the race for Balint just before 8 p.m. Tuesday. She led Republican challenger Gerald Malloy by more than 30 percentage points.

Balint addressed supporters in Montpelier following the announcement. She described the election results as a national correction in direction. The longtime educator emphasized the value of empathy in public service.

“Service to others. It is not weakness. Humility is not weakness. Kindness is not weakness. Understanding that everyone is entitled to human dignity that is not weakness; that is the source of our strength. That is the source of our strength, our humanity. Our humanity is what is going to get us through,” Balint said.

Balint has held a wide lead in recent polling data. She has served in Vermont politics for more than a decade. Her time in the state Senate preceded her entry into Congress. She assumed the seat vacated by Peter Welch in 2022. Welch now serves as a U.S. Senator.

Her opponent, Gerald Malloy, is a West Point graduate. He served in the military before joining the defense contractor sector. Malloy previously ran for statewide office twice without success. Those campaigns were against then-Senators Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders.

During a debate hosted by local media, both candidates focused on the affordability crisis as the primary issue. Balint credited her work with bringing federal funds to Vermont to ease financial pressure on residents. She framed her legislative approach through the lens of her background in education.

“I come to this work as a long-time teacher. And every time I walk into that building, when I walk up the steps of the Capitol, when I walk into a Judiciary Committee hearing, or a Budget Committee hearing, I am thinking about all of those students that I taught in schools in Vermont,” Balint said. “Those are the people I’m thinking about when I’m walking into the committee, putting them at the center of the work that we’re doing. And I know that’s what binds us together.”