Peter Welch

Democrat junior Senator of Vermont

Representative
Vermont
January 4, 2007 - January 3, 2009
Representative
Vermont
January 6, 2009 - January 3, 2011
Representative
Vermont
January 5, 2011 - January 3, 2013
Representative
Vermont
January 3, 2013 - January 3, 2015
Representative
Vermont
January 6, 2015 - January 3, 2017
Representative
Vermont
January 3, 2017 - January 3, 2019
Representative
Vermont
January 3, 2019 - January 3, 2021
Representative
Vermont
January 3, 2021 - January 3, 2023
Senator
Vermont
January 3, 2023 - January 3, 2029

202-224-4242

@PeterWelch

welch.senate.gov

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Congresses Served

House Terms

Senate Terms

May 2, 1947 (77 years old)

Birthday

Served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2023.
Previously served as the U.S. representative for Vermont’s at-large congressional district from 2007 to 2023.
Has been involved in Vermont politics for over four decades.
Graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
Worked as a community organizer in Chicago and for a Washington law firm before moving to Vermont.
Served in the Vermont Senate, including as minority leader and president pro tempore.
Ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988 and for governor of Vermont in 1990.
Returned to the Vermont Senate in 2001, serving again as president pro tempore.
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, succeeding Bernie Sanders.
Announced candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2021 to succeed retiring Senator Patrick Leahy and won the election in 2022.
At age 75, became the oldest person to become a freshman senator.
Worked on bipartisan initiatives, including increasing funding for pediatric research and opposing regulations against using wooden shelves for ageing cheese.
Endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 and 2020.
Voted for both articles of impeachment against Donald Trump in 2019.
Served on several committees in the House, including the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Supports gun control, LGBT rights, and transgender rights.
Called for an indefinite ceasefire in the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.
Married to Margaret Cheney, with whom he has three stepchildren; also had five stepchildren from his first marriage.