Peter Welch

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Peter Welch

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's At-large congressional district
In office 2007-
Preceded by	Bernie Sanders
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	May 02, 1947 (age 59) Springfield, Massachusetts
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Widower
Religion	Roman Catholic

For the British television actor, see Peter Welch (actor).

Peter F. Welch (born May 2, 1947) is the United States Representative for the U.S. state of Vermont's at-large congressional seat. He also served as a Vermont State Senator (D-Windsor). Welch was the president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate.

Welch was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1947. He attended local Catholic schools there (Holy Name Grammar School and Cathedral High School). Welch attended College of the Holy Cross, graduating magna cum laude in 1969. He later received a law degree from Boalt Hall, the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. Welch married Joan Smith in 1976. Together they had five children. Smith died of cancer in 2004.

In 1980, Welch was elected to the Vermont Senate as a representative from Windsor County. In his second term, Welch was chosen as the minority leader, and after Democrats gained control of the Senate, Welch was chosen as president pro tempore.

In 1988, Welch left the Senate to make an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Vermont's at-large congressional district. In 1990, Welch won the Democratic nomination for governor of Vermont, but lost in the general election to the former Vermont Governor Richard Snelling, the Republican nominee. Welch did not run for another office for more than a decade, but in 2001 was appointed by then-Governor Howard Dean to fill a vacant Vermont Senate seat in Windsor County. He was elected to the seat in 2002 and reelected in 2004, again serving as president pro tempore.

When Vermont's lone U.S. House member Bernie Sanders decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2006, Welch chose to run for Sanders' seat. He defeated Republican Martha Rainville in the November 7, 2006 general election 53% to 45%.