Peter Welch was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1947 into a family of six children. He attended Holy Name Grammar School and Cathedral High School.  After graduating from Holy Cross College in 1969, he was selected to be in the first class of Robert F. Kennedy Fellows.  This honor allowed him to continue the civil rights work he began in college, helping families in Chicago overcome discriminatory housing policies.  Welch graduated from the University of California Berkeley, Boalt Hall in 1973.

Settling in Vermont, Welch worked as a public defender and then started the firm of Welch, Graham & Manby, of which he served as partner.

In 1980, Welch became only the second Democrat ever elected to represent Windsor County in the Vermont State Senate.  In 1985 he was unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as President Pro Tem of the Vermont Senate, also becoming the first Democrat to hold this leadership position.  Welch returned to the Senate in 2001 and his colleagues again unanimously elected him President Pro Tem in 2003.  He served as President Pro Tem from 2003 to 2006. 

In November 2006, Welch was elected to his first term as Vermont's lone U.S. Representative.  Welch serves on the House Committee on Rules and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  For more information about committee assignments, click here.

Welch and his late wife Joan Smith raised five children together.  He and his dog, Pepper, are often seen running on the back roads and Green Mountains of Vermont.