WASHINGTON — Come January, for the first time in 234 years, every U.S. state will have sent a female representative to Congress.
Vermont, the lone holdout, has finally elected a woman to Congress, with the Associated Press projecting Democrat Becca Balint’s win on Tuesday for the state’s seat in the House of Representatives.
The 54-year-old Balint, who previously served in the state Senate, will fill the seat formerly held by Peter Welch. Welch was elected to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday as well, the Associated Press projected. Welch replaces the retiring Patrick Leahy.
Balint, a former middle school teacher, has broken barriers before, as the first LGBTQ person to serve as president pro tempore in the Vermont State Senate.
In recent years, Congress has seen an uptick in female legislators, though male lawmakers still make up the vast majority. There are 150 women serving in the current 117th Congress out of a total of 541, including the six non-voting members, up from 130 women in the last class.
