Peter Welch

Peter Welch
Official portrait, 2023
United States Senator from Vermont
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2023 Serving with Bernie Sanders
Preceded by	Patrick Leahy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Bernie Sanders
Succeeded by	Becca Balint
73rd and 78th President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
In office January 8, 2003 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Peter Shumlin
Succeeded by	Peter Shumlin
In office January 9, 1985 – January 4, 1989
Preceded by	Robert A. Bloomer
Succeeded by	Doug Racine
Minority Leader of the Vermont Senate
In office January 5, 1983 – January 8, 1985
Preceded by	Robert Daniels
Succeeded by	Allen Avery
Member of the Vermont Senate from the Windsor district
In office December 13, 2001 – January 3, 2007 Serving with John Campbell, Richard McCormack
Preceded by	Cheryl Rivers
Succeeded by	Alice Nitka
In office January 7, 1981 – January 4, 1989 Serving with Chester Scott, John Hudson Howland, Edgar May, William Hunter
Preceded by	Herbert Ogden
Succeeded by	Richard McCormack
Personal details
Born	Peter Francis Welch (1947-05-02) May 2, 1947 (age 77) Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Joan Smith ​ ​ (m. 1986; died 2004)​ Margaret Cheney ​ (m. 2009)​
Education	College of the Holy Cross (BA) University of California, Berkeley (JD)
Website	Senate website
Peter Welch's voice Peter Welch questions witnesses for further clarity on organic rules of USDA regulations Recorded February 1, 2023

Peter Francis Welch (born May 2, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2023 as the junior United States senator from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Vermont's at-large congressional district from 2007 to 2023. He has been a major figure in Vermont politics for over four decades, and is only the second Democrat to be elected a senator from the state.

Welch was a member of the Vermont Senate from 1981 to 1989, including terms as minority leader. He was the Senate's president pro tempore from 1985 to 1989, the first Democrat to hold the position. In 1988, he gave up his seat to run for the United States House of Representatives and lost the Democratic primary to Paul N. Poirier. He was the Democratic nominee for governor of Vermont in 1990, losing the general election to Republican Richard A. Snelling.

Welch continued to practice law and returned to politics in 2001, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Vermont Senate. He was re-elected in 2002 and 2004 and was Senate president from 2003 to 2007. In 2006, Welch was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding Bernie Sanders, who was elected to the United States Senate. In November 2021, Welch announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2022 United States Senate election in Vermont to succeed retiring Senator Patrick Leahy.^[1][2] On August 9, 2022, he won the Democratic primary. On November 8, 2022, Welch won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Gerald Malloy.^[3][4][5] Elected at age 75, he is the oldest person to become a freshman senator, a record previously held by Frederick H. Gillett.