Hi there,

It’s Ryan again, Peter Welch’s campaign manager. It’s hard to believe, but we only have four weeks left until Election Day in Vermont! We’re so excited for this final stretch, and today I’d like to share our next campaign update that you can expect every Tuesday until Election Day.

Right now we’re laser-focused on our campaign strategy and our path to victory in the next 28 days. In a moment, I’m going to lay out everything—where we stand right now, our plan to elect Peter, and what we need to make it happen—but I know it’s pretty long, so if you don’t have time to read through it all right now, will you please make a donation?

The Landscape in Vermont

Many people think the race to replace Senator Leahy in the U.S. Senate is a safe race for Democrats. How could a Republican win in Bernie Sanders’ home state? The fact is: at least one Republican already has. We currently have a Republican governor who was elected with 68% of the vote. It’s not that hard to imagine another Republican winning here, especially in a midterm year.

Vermont has a long history of a strong independent streak—Patrick Leahy is the only Democratic Senator we’ve ever had. So we can’t take anything for granted, no matter what the talking heads may say.

A few other important points to remember:

Republicans only need to win ONE Senate seat to win back the majority. We can’t afford to let it be Vermont.
Our opponent already surprised many by coming out of nowhere to win the Republican primary against a better-funded candidate with more national and institutional support. He’s eager to do it again.
A recent poll showed Peter winning by only 6 points—indicating that our lead has narrowed significantly.
Fox News, Breitbart, and other national Republicans are now actively covering our race as competitive. The right is energized and mobilized around this race.

For these reasons and more—we are not taking anything for granted. We are going to be working our butts off, from now through November 8, to make sure we elect Peter Welch to be our next U.S. Senator for Vermont. (If you’re convinced, you can chip in to support us right now.)

The stakes are too high to take it easy. The future of our progressive agenda—everything from protecting reproductive freedom, to combating climate change, to lowering costs for working people—depends on our success.

So here’s an overview of our plan to win—and why we need your support.

Team Welch’s Plan to Win

1) Meet with Vermonters all across the state and ask for their vote

We’re organizing across the state to talk to as many voters as possible. That means volunteers talking to their friends and neighbors, on the phones and at their doors.

Sign up to join the team here.

We’re organizing collaboratively with other Democratic campaigns up and down the ballot, because winning a more progressive future doesn’t stop with a U.S. Senate seat.
We recently launched our Welch Wagon 14 County Tour to make sure Peter and our team visit every county in the state. We’ve already been to three counties—keep an eye out for updates.
We’ve collected thousands of endorsements from grassroots supporters because this campaign really is people-powered. If you haven’t already, you can add your name to our list of endorsers.

2) Make sure people hear the truth about Peter’s record of service

In today’s era of misinformation and hyperpartisanship, it’s important that voters hear the facts about Peter’s record of bipartisanship and service. We’re raising the resources needed to get our message out on the airwaves, online, in mailboxes, and on the doors.
We’re reminding voters that Peter has a record of delivering results. We’re proud to share how Peter has delivered investments in job creation, lowered costs on prescription drugs AND energy bills, combatted climate change, supported our veterans, shored up Vermont’s roads and infrastructure, and more. Vermonters know Peter is more focused on solutions than politics.
We’re not accepting any donations from Corporate PACs, so we rely on this grassroots team to fund our work and to get our message out. You can donate or sign up to volunteer to help right now.

3) Stay focused on Vermont Priorities

Peter knows he has to earn the trust of Vermonters every day. Our work on the campaign will always reflect Peter’s commitment to all Vermonters and all of Vermont.
We’re staying focused on the issues that matter most by listening to Vermonters, and making plans to meet those needs once Peter gets to the Senate.
Everywhere he goes, Peter is asking Vermonters about the issues that matter to them:

Protecting reproductive freedom
Lowering costs, including Rx costs
Combating climate change
Protecting democracy
Increasing affordable housing

You can tell us what’s on your mind here, any time.

Let’s get it done!

Ryan McLaren
Campaign Manager, Welch for Vermont