A moderate-to-liberal Democrat, Backus ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994 and beat Douglas M. Costle, Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President Jimmy Carter, for her party's nomination and came within 9 points of ousting incumbent U.S.

[1] In 2000, she ran again and lost the Democratic U.S. Senate primary to Ed Flanagan, then Vermont's Auditor of Accounts.

[3] Backus lives in Winooski, Vermont, with her husband Steve Blodgett (a former state senator).

She currently serves as a member of Winooski's Downtown Revitalization Project to eliminate sprawl and attract jobs.

She has three daughters, one of whom served as a high-ranking member of John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004.