The Senate has its 1st new member
Longtime Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) has defeated Republican Gerald Malloy in the Vermont Senate race, according to a 7 p.m. ET race call from The Associated Press. He will replace retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy, who has "represented Vermont in the U.S. Senate since 1975," Insider reports.
As of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Welch held 63.2 percent of the vote, while Malloy accounted for just 31.2 percent. "Serving Vermont is an incredible privilege," Welch wrote on Twitter. "Thank you for choosing me to represent this brave little state in the United State Senate."
Welch's victory makes him the first newly elected senator of the 2022 midterms, per journalist Reid Wilson. It also makes him just the second-ever Democratic senator to represent liberal Vermont in the upper chamber.
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The little-known Malloy is a retired U.S. Army officer and was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, per AP.
Welch was first elected to the House in 2006.
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