
Vermont voters have chosen U.S. Rep. Peter Welch in the Democratic Party primary Tuesday to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who has held the seat since 1975 and was the last of Congress’s so-called Watergate babies.
Welch, the state’s lone member of the House of Representatives, easily defeated two little-known candidates to move on to the general election in November. During the years he has been in Congress, Welch has been one of Vermont’s top vote-getters and would be an odds-on favorite to win the general election.