MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont Rep. Becca Balint won a third term in the U.S. House on Tuesday, defeating Republican Gerald Malloy for the state's only congressional seat, according to The Associated Press.

Balint had held large leads in recent polling, WCAX reported.

Malloy is a West Point graduate who served in the military and then worked for defense contractors. He had run unsuccessfully for statewide office twice before, against Sens. Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders, according to WCAX.

Both candidates made the state's affordability crisis the central focus of their campaigns, according to WCAX. In a debate, Balint said she had eased the burden on Vermonters by bringing federal dollars to the state, while Malloy said he would draw business investment by relying on his experience in the corporate world.

Balint, a former middle school teacher who rose to become majority leader of the Vermont Senate, won the House seat in 2022 after Welch left it to run for the Senate. She is the first woman and the first LGBTQ person Vermont has elected to Congress, according to the Cook Political Report.

Vermont's at-large district has not elected a Republican since 1988, according to Cook.