Congressman Peter Welch has represented Vermonters in Congress since 2007. In an era of partisanship and division, he is widely recognized as a progressive leader and a skillful legislator who prioritizes governing over gridlock. As a member of the first class of Robert F. Kennedy Fellows, he fought housing discrimination in Chicago after college and went on to earn a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After law school, he settled in Vermont’s Upper Valley, where he worked as a public defender before founding a small law practice. He was elected to the Vermont Senate in 1980 and later was selected to lead the chamber, becoming the first Democrat in the state’s history to hold the position of Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore. 

Representative Welch knows that it’s past time for Congress to enact commonsense gun safety reforms to address the epidemic of gun violence in our country. He has a strong record of advocating for such measures in the House and in 2016, he took part in the sit-in on the House floor demanding legislative action on gun reform. Congressman Welch has also pushed for the passage of legislation that would require universal background checks, prohibit the sale of high capacity magazines, and close the Charleston Loophole. 

There have been too many lives lost to gun violence, and elected leaders must step up and protect our children and our communities. Representative Peter Welch believes lifesaving measures can be enacted without undermining the Second Amendment rights of Americans, and he is working hard in Congress to make them law. If elected to the Senate, he will continue to advocate for these long-overdue reforms that are critical in the fight to end gun violence.

We are proud to endorse Peter Welch for the US Senate.