Peter Welch, Vermont's lone representative in the U.S. House, on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination to seek re-election in November, when he will face perennial candidate H. Brooke Paige.
In Tuesday's balloting, Welch defeated challengers Dan Freilich and Benjamin Mitchell. Paige beat Anya Tynio for their party's nomination to run for the U.S. House seat.
Since Welch was first elected to the House in 2006, he has consistently been one of Vermont's most popular politicians, easily winning re-election every two years.
Welch, traditionally one of the most liberal members of Congress, says Vermont residents must fight the disastrous policies of President Donald Trump.
Welch is working to pass a comprehensive climate bill, cut prescription drug prices, raise the national hourly minimum wage and expand quality affordable health care by passing Medicare for All.
The 71-year-old Welch was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He went to law school at the University of California, Berkeley. He settled in Vermont in the 1970s, first working as a public defender before founding a law office. He was first elected to the state Senate in 1980 but took a break from electoral politics in the 1990s. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2002.
Welch was elected to the U.S. House in 2006 after Bernie Sanders left the chamber to run for the U.S. Senate seat he now holds.
Paige also was running for the GOP Senate nomination. He is one of Vermont's perennial candidates who, over the years, has run for a number of statewide offices, arguing the state needs to "find a pathway back to the values of self-determination and community for all."
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