Skip to content

Peter Welch

Democrat. Vermont’s Senate seat, on the ballot November 7, 2028.

Print the brief
MapSee on the mapContactContact American Ascent
Age on Election Day 2028
81
On November 7, 2028. Born May 2, 1947.
Lean
D+17
Statewide, 2025 Cook PVI.
In the Senate since
2023
Took office January 3, 2023.6
Approval
62%
27% disapprove. Morning Consult.3

Overview

Cash on hand
$1,605,730
Federal Election Commission, October quarterly report12

Last election
68.5%
Share of the vote.11

The state in 2024
Harris won Vermont in 2024.
Earlier offices
  • U.S. House, VT at-large, 2007 to 2023
  • Vermont Senate, 1981 to 1989 and 2001 to 2007 (president pro tempore 1985 to 1989 and 2003 to 2007)
2028 plans
No public statement on record.

Lean is the state’s 2025 Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI): R+5 to R+9 is lean Republican, R+10 and up solidly Republican, and D+ leans Democratic. Approval is the latest published Morning Consult rating, from its quarterly survey of registered voters in each state. Last election is the share of the vote the senator won. Cash on hand is the campaign’s money at the end of the reporting period named.

Sources (6)
  1. 1Peter Welch, official page Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 22025 Cook PVI, state list (Cook Political Report), checked against the 2020 and 2024 presidential results Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Morning Consult, approval, April 1 to June 30, 2026 Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Senate committee assignments, senate.gov Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Senate leadership, senate.gov Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Senators by date of first service, senate.gov Open the source (opens in a new tab)

In the Senate

In the Senate since
January 3, 2023
Leadership posts
No leadership post
Committees
  • Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Finance
  • Rules and Administration
  • Judiciary

A gold mark names a leadership post. The posts and committees are the 119th Congress’s, as senate.gov lists them: a chair led a full committee for the majority, a ranking member was the senior member of the minority on it. The 120th Congress, which Democrats control, names its own in January 2027.

The filibuster

The senator’s own public position, from a recorded vote or a dated statement. A talking filibuster requires senators to hold the floor to block a vote.

Ending the legislative filibuster

Supports

Welch said he fully supports abolishing the filibuster.

VTDigger (opens in a new tab), May 3, 2022.

A talking filibuster

Supports

Rather than acquiesce to Republican threats, Welch said, Senate Democrats should force Republicans to actually mount a filibuster, not merely threaten to do so. That would mean Republican senators would have to continuously speak on the Senate floor to continue blocking a final vote.

Bennington Banner (opens in a new tab), February 11, 2010.

Sources (2)
  1. 7VTDigger, May 3, 2022 Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 8Bennington Banner, February 11, 2010 Open the source (opens in a new tab)

The state’s other seat

Vermont’s other Senate seat is not on the 2028 ballot.

Senator
Bernard Sanders (opens in a new tab)
Party
IndependentSits with the Democrat caucus.
Next on the ballot
2030The current term ends January 3, 2031.

The two seats are on different ballots: this one in 2028, the other in 2030. From the 120th Congress Senate roster: holdover senators from congress-legislators (retrieved 2026-10-03) and the November 3, 2026 winners called by NBC News and the Associated Press, merged by scripts/build_120th.py (opens in a new tab) dataset, retrieved November 5, 2026.

Sources (2)
  1. 9Bernard Sanders’s official site Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 10120th Congress Senate roster: holdover senators from congress-legislators (retrieved 2026-10-03) and the November 3, 2026 winners called by NBC News and the Associated Press, merged by scripts/build_120th.py dataset Retrieved November 5, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Election history

2022 election
Won with 68.5% of the voteOfficial results (opens in a new tab)
2028
Six-year term. The seat is on the ballot November 7, 2028.
Sources (1)
  1. 11Official results, 2022 Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Financial records

Cash on hand
$1,605,730

Reported to
Federal Election Commission, October quarterly report (opens in a new tab)

Cash on hand from the latest Federal Election Commission filing of the senator’s campaign committee.

Sources (1)
  1. 12Federal Election Commission, October quarterly report Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Scorecards

Heritage Action (opens in a new tab) lifetime
9
Club for Growth (opens in a new tab) lifetime
6
Turning Point Action (opens in a new tab) lifetime
3
GOP Platform (opens in a new tab) 2025
7
The link opens the scorecard’s list for the state, which shows this score: the member’s own page is not available.

Progressive scorecards, out of 100

League of Conservation Voters (opens in a new tab) lifetime
95
Progressive Punch (opens in a new tab) lifetime, all votes
96
The link opens the scorecard’s list for the state, which shows this score: the member’s own page is not available.
Stop Corruption Now (Democracy Defenders Action) (opens in a new tab) 119th Congress, 10 measures
100

Mirrored for every senator of either party: the League of Conservation Voters’ lifetime score, read from the senator’s page; Progressive Punch’s lifetime score on all votes, read from its Senate table; and Democracy Defenders Action’s Stop Corruption Now score for the 119th Congress (September 16, 2026), its total on 10 anti-corruption and pro-democracy votes and cosponsorships, shown out of 100. No score means none was published.

Each out of 100, as the group publishes it: Heritage Action and Turning Point Action (the senator’s lifetime scores), Club for Growth (the senator’s lifetime rating) and GOP Platform (2025), which measures agreement with the national Republican Party platform and is published by the Institute for Legislative Analysis.

“No score published” means the group published none, not zero.

How to read this

Each group’s name links to the senator’s own page on its scorecard, or to the scorecard’s list for the state where the line under it says so, opened on the date shown.

Sources (7)
  1. 13Heritage Action scorecard, Peter Welch’s page Retrieved October 4, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 14Club for Growth scorecard, Peter Welch’s page Retrieved October 4, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 15Turning Point Action scorecard, Peter Welch’s page Retrieved October 4, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 16GOP Platform scorecard, list for Vermont (Peter Welch’s own page is not available) Retrieved October 4, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  5. 17League of Conservation Voters scorecard, Peter Welch’s page Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  6. 18Progressive Punch scorecard, list for Vermont (Peter Welch’s own page is not available) Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  7. 19Stop Corruption Now (Democracy Defenders Action) scorecard, Peter Welch’s page Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Endorsements

Mirrored for Democrats: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and the Democratic Socialists of America, as Republicans are checked against Donald Trump, Club for Growth, Turning Point Action and MAHA PAC.

2028 race so far

None on record: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Democratic Socialists of America.

Sources: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2023-24 (opens in a new tab); FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2025-26 (opens in a new tab); FEC: IMPACT, leadership PAC (opens in a new tab); Justice Democrats, candidates (opens in a new tab); Working Families Party, ‘Our 2026 Candidates’ (opens in a new tab); FEC independent expenditures, 2026 (opens in a new tab); Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, endorsements (opens in a new tab); Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements (opens in a new tab).

2022 race

Endorsed: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

None on record: Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Democratic Socialists of America.

Sources: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2021-22 (IMPACT C00348607, Schumer’s leadership PAC) (opens in a new tab); FEC: IMPACT, leadership PAC (opens in a new tab); ProPublica Itemizer: IMPACT, ‘Leadership PAC - Schumer, Charles’ (opens in a new tab); Justice Democrats, candidates (opens in a new tab); Working Families Party, ‘Memo: The Gravity of the 2022 Midterms’ (Nov. 7, 2022) (opens in a new tab); FEC independent expenditures, 2022 (opens in a new tab); Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, 2022 archive (opens in a new tab); Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, November 2022 results release (opens in a new tab); Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements (opens in a new tab).

Endorsed: the group endorsed the officeholder in that race. None on record: no endorsement found in the sources listed.

Sources (14)
  1. 20Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2023-24 Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 21Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2025-26 Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 22Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC: IMPACT, leadership PAC Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 23Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Justice Democrats, candidates Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  5. 24Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Working Families Party, ‘Our 2026 Candidates’ Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  6. 25Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC independent expenditures, 2026 Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  7. 26Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, endorsements Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  8. 27Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  9. 28Endorsements, 2022 race: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2021-22 (IMPACT C00348607, Schumer’s leadership PAC) Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  10. 29Endorsements, 2022 race: ProPublica Itemizer: IMPACT, ‘Leadership PAC - Schumer, Charles’ Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  11. 30Endorsements, 2022 race: Working Families Party, ‘Memo: The Gravity of the 2022 Midterms’ (Nov. 7, 2022) Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  12. 31Endorsements, 2022 race: FEC independent expenditures, 2022 Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  13. 32Endorsements, 2022 race: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, 2022 archive Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  14. 33Endorsements, 2022 race: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, November 2022 results release Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Sources

Each section lists its own sources, numbered through the page. Here they are together.

All sources for this record (33)

Overview

  1. 1Peter Welch, official page (opens in a new tab)
  2. 22025 Cook PVI, state list (Cook Political Report), checked against the 2020 and 2024 presidential results (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Morning Consult, approval, April 1 to June 30, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Senate committee assignments, senate.gov (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Senate leadership, senate.gov (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Senators by date of first service, senate.gov (opens in a new tab)

The filibuster

  1. 7VTDigger, May 3, 2022 (opens in a new tab)
  2. 8Bennington Banner, February 11, 2010 (opens in a new tab)

The state’s other seat

  1. 9Bernard Sanders’s official site (opens in a new tab)
  2. 10120th Congress Senate roster: holdover senators from congress-legislators (retrieved 2026-10-03) and the November 3, 2026 winners called by NBC News and the Associated Press, merged by scripts/build_120th.py dataset (opens in a new tab) Retrieved November 5, 2026.

Election history

  1. 11Official results, 2022 (opens in a new tab)

Financial records

  1. 12Federal Election Commission, October quarterly report (opens in a new tab)

Scorecards

  1. 13Heritage Action scorecard, Peter Welch’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  2. 14Club for Growth scorecard, Peter Welch’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  3. 15Turning Point Action scorecard, Peter Welch’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  4. 16GOP Platform scorecard, list for Vermont (Peter Welch’s own page is not available) (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  5. 17League of Conservation Voters scorecard, Peter Welch’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.
  6. 18Progressive Punch scorecard, list for Vermont (Peter Welch’s own page is not available) (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.
  7. 19Stop Corruption Now (Democracy Defenders Action) scorecard, Peter Welch’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.

Endorsements

  1. 20Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2023-24 (opens in a new tab)
  2. 21Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2025-26 (opens in a new tab)
  3. 22Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC: IMPACT, leadership PAC (opens in a new tab)
  4. 23Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Justice Democrats, candidates (opens in a new tab)
  5. 24Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Working Families Party, ‘Our 2026 Candidates’ (opens in a new tab)
  6. 25Endorsements, 2028 race so far: FEC independent expenditures, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
  7. 26Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, endorsements (opens in a new tab)
  8. 27Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements (opens in a new tab)
  9. 28Endorsements, 2022 race: FEC bulk data, committee contributions to candidates, 2021-22 (IMPACT C00348607, Schumer’s leadership PAC) (opens in a new tab)
  10. 29Endorsements, 2022 race: ProPublica Itemizer: IMPACT, ‘Leadership PAC - Schumer, Charles’ (opens in a new tab)
  11. 30Endorsements, 2022 race: Working Families Party, ‘Memo: The Gravity of the 2022 Midterms’ (Nov. 7, 2022) (opens in a new tab)
  12. 31Endorsements, 2022 race: FEC independent expenditures, 2022 (opens in a new tab)
  13. 32Endorsements, 2022 race: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, 2022 archive (opens in a new tab)
  14. 33Endorsements, 2022 race: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, November 2022 results release (opens in a new tab)

Continue

Record 33 of 35 in the Senate field, in order of state.

Previous recordMike Lee · UtahNext recordPatty Murray · Washington

More in Vermont

Contact American Ascent about the Vermont Senate seat