Peter Welch

U. S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, speaks in Burlington on Election Night, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell, VTDigger The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you get podcasts. Landslide. Tsunami. Earthquake. Bloodbath. Wipeout. Massacre. That is how mainstream news accounts are characterizing the results of this year’s midterm election, as Democrats led a historic rout of Republicans. Democrats are poised to retake control of both the U.S. Senate and House. The election marked a decisive rejection of President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. And with the election to the U.S. Senate of Troy Jackson in Maine and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, the Boston Globe reports that “New England will not have a single Republican U.S. Senator for the first time since the founding of the Republican Party in the mid-19th century.” U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told me that the election was “an incredible repudiation of Trump” and said voters across the political spectrum united around concerns about affordability, government integrity and presidential overreach. “This election was an opportunity for the American people to weigh in,” Welch said. “That arbitrary use of authority is something people really reacted to because it had real consequences in their lives.” Welch pointed to widespread dissatisfaction with Trump’s tariffs, his administration’s handling of immigration enforcement, and the president’s decision to expand U.S. military involvement in Iran without congressional approval. “People were appalled by the cruelty and the corruption of the Trump administration,” Welch said, arguing that voters ultimately rejected both the policies and style of Trump’s presidency. The Vermont senator said one of the election’s clearest messages was a demand for accountability from elected officials. “The most significant act of accountability is the American voters repudiating policies and actions and behaviors by incumbents,” Welch said. “The American voter did that on a massive scale.” While Democrats celebrated major gains, Welch cautioned against interpreting the results as a broad endorsement of his party. The vote “was not a big embrace of Democrats,” he said. “What Democrats have been given by the American people is an opportunity to earn their trust.” That trust, Welch said, must be earned by addressing issues that cut across partisan lines, including healthcare costs, child care, fuel prices and economic insecurity. “Families can’t afford healthcare. It’s a broken system. Families can’t afford childcare,” he said. “We have to approach this with humility and try to hear and act on what the American people said.” READ MORE Among the first priorities for the incoming Democratic majorities, Welch said, should be efforts to repeal Trump-era tariffs and reassert congressional aut