US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has endorsed his fellow Green Mountain State Senator Becca Balint in her run for US Congress. If she wins, Balint, currently the state’s Senate President Pro Tempore, would become both the first woman and first openly LGBTQ Congressperson from Vermont. The endorsement came in early July.
“I’m so honored and so pleased to have his support,” Balint told VTDigger.com, adding that she was “jumping up and down” when she heard the news.
Reports VTDigger.org:
The move comes less than five weeks before the Aug. 9 primary election, with early voting already underway.
Sanders has, until this point, stayed out of the fray in the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Rep. Peter Welch in Vermont’s lone seat in the U.S. House. (Welch is running to replace U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in the upper chamber.) Balint’s top contender in the race is Lt. Gov. Molly Gray. …
“I feel like the work that I’ve done here in Vermont, supporting working families, is something that Bernie noticed, stuff that he really cares about,” she continued. “He’s somebody that has deep moral clarity. So the fact that he felt like the message of our campaign was really resonating with him is just — it actually makes me kind of teary.”
In a press release from Balint’s campaign, Sanders pointed to the state Senate leader’s track record in the Legislature, saying Balint “does the work.”
“In Becca’s years as a state senator, she has been a voice for rural Vermonters and proved again and again that she is a champion for the working class,” Sanders said. “Becca understands that if we are going to combat the existential threat of climate change, establish universal health care and mental health care for all, create good paying jobs in Vermont and protect American democracy, we need leaders who have the courage to challenge the status quo. Becca has that courage.”
Read the entire VTDigger.org article here.
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
