随着佛蒙特州参议员帕特里克·莱希在任职48年后退休，以及该州唯一的众议员彼得·韦尔奇(Peter Welch)希望在众议院任职16年后填补他的参议院席位，佛蒙特州几乎肯定会在该州历史上首次向国会派出一名女性议员——美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)预测该州参议员贝卡·巴林特将在周二赢得她的初选。
尽管鉴于伯尼·桑德斯在当地政治格局中的地位，佛蒙特州在许多人中享有进步的声誉，但它是美国最后一个将女性送入华盛顿的州，部分原因是像莱希、桑德斯和韦尔奇这样的男性长期服务于区区三个国会席位的机会较少。
巴林特曾是一名教师，后来成为立法委员，自2014年以来一直在佛蒙特州参议院任职，在桑德斯和马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦的支持下，他在进步选民中受到欢迎。(本的联合创始人&杰瑞的冰淇淋也支持她。)自去年以来，她一直担任该州上议院临时议长——这是该职位上的第一位女性和第一位公开同性恋身份的人——在此之前的四年里，她一直是民主党多数党领袖。
她也将是第一个在国会山代表佛蒙特州的公开同性恋立法者。
Vermont state Sen. Becca Balint, who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination to run for Vermont's vacant U.S. House seat, speaks to voters in Colchester, Vt., on July 24, 2022.
威尔逊环/美联社，文件
“在我的家庭里，我们知道什么是最重要的，”她在一份声明中说活动视频上周在推特上发布，关注堕胎和投票权。“我的祖父在大屠杀中被谋杀了。我一生都知道，要击败那些企图分裂我们的势力，你需要抓住每一个机会。”
她在12月13日宣布，她将寻求民主党提名，以接替韦尔奇，并看到了早期的热情，在她宣布的24小时内筹集了超过12.5万美元。桑德斯在7月份支持巴林特，并在全州举行了至少三场集会，为巴林特拉票，后者在初选前的民调中领先。
根据一份报告，LGBTQ和进步政治行动委员会已经花费了超过80万美元支持巴林特挖掘机中她的主要对手瞄准了这一点，认为佛蒙特州人应该决定这场比赛，而不是政治团体。
预计她将比另一位寻求韦尔奇席位的候选人、副州长莫利·格雷赢得更多的选票，莫利·格雷在竞选中吹捧她与韦尔奇和莱希的国会关系。
巴林特将在11月的大选中迎战共和党挑战者，尽管佛蒙特州的众议院席位已经有30年没有共和党人填补了。
根据他们的网站，巴林特和格雷都表示，他们支持全国单一支付者医疗保健系统，允许医疗保险谈判价格，以及恢复全国范围内的攻击性武器禁令，并为联邦带薪家庭和医疗休假提供资金。
但他们的一个不同之处是如何处理阿片类药物危机，他们都认为这是一个问题。
巴林特说，她支持为吸毒者提供所谓的“安全注射场所”，以防止过量用药，而格雷曾表示她“愿意考虑”这些场所。
格雷有法律背景，在国会工作了五年，先是为韦尔奇工作，然后为红十字国际委员会工作。在去年中期选举被选为副州长之前，她担任助理司法部长。
巴林特还击败了医生路易斯·梅耶斯和前社会工作者西亚奈·蔡斯·克利福德。
在网络普通用户国会选区的共和党初选中，领先的候选人是海军陆战队老兵利亚姆·马登(Liam Madden)和会计师兼播客主持人埃里克·雷迪克(Ericka Redic)，两人都来自该州。
Vermont on brink of sending a woman to Congress for 1st time in state's history
With Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy retiring after 48 years in office and the state's only representative, Peter Welch, hoping to fill his Senate seat after 16 years in the House, Vermonters are virtually certain to send a woman to Congress for the first time in the state's history -- with ABC News projecting that state Sen. Becca Balintwill win her primary race on Tuesday.
Vermont, despite its progressive reputation among many given how Sen. Bernie Sanders towers over the local political landscape, is the last state in the nation to send a woman to Washington, partly because it's had fewer opportunities with men like Leahy, Sanders and Welch serving for long stretches in the mere three congressional seats.
Balint, a former teacher-turned-legislator who has served in the Vermont Senate since 2014, gained popularity among progressive voters with endorsements from Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (The co-founders of Ben& Jerry's ice cream also backed her.) Since last year, she has served as president pro tempore of her state's upper chamber -- the first woman and first openly gay person in the position -- and she was the Democratic majority leader for the four years prior.
She would also be the first openly gay lawmaker to represent Vermont on Capitol Hill.
"In my family, we know what's at stake," she said in acampaign videoposted to Twitter last week, focusing on abortion and voting rights. "My grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust. My whole life I've known that beating the forces set on dividing us takes showing up every chance you get."
She announced on Dec. 13 that she would seek the Democratic nomination to succeed Welch and saw early enthusiasm, raising more than $125,000 within 24 hours of her announcement. Sanders endorsed Balint in July and held at least three rallies across the state to stump for Balint, who was leading in polls heading into the primary.
LGBTQ and progressive political action committees have spent more than $800,000 backing Balint, according to a reportin VT Digger, which her leading opponent took aim at -- arguing Vermonters should be deciding the race, not political groups.
She is projected to have won more votes than Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, another candidate seeking Welch's seat, who touted her congressional ties to Welch and Leahy in her campaign.
Balint will go on to the November general election against a Republican challenger, though Vermont’s House seat has not been filled by a Republican in 30 years.
Both Balint and Gray said they support a national single-payer health care system, allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, as well as re-instating a nationwide assault weapons ban and funding federal paid family and medical leave, according to their websites.
But one way they differed was on how to handle the opioid crisis, which they both cited as an issue.
Balint said she supports so-called "safe injection sites" for drug users to prevent overdosing, while Gray had said she was "willing to consider" them.
Gray has a background in law and worked in Congress for five years, first for Welch and then for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Before being elected lieutenant governor last midterm cycle, she served as an assistant attorney general.
Balint also defeated physician Louis Meyers and former social worker Sianay Chase Clifford.
The leading candidates in the Republican primary for the at-large congressional district were Liam Madden, a Marine Corps veteran, and Ericka Redic, an accountant and podcast host, both native to the state.
