Peter Welch appears to have easily secured the Democratic nomination for Vermont's only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, in one of the two competitive statewide primaries this year.

The Associated Press projected Welch's win with 12 percent of the total vote counted. Welch won nearly 90 percent of votes cast and his challenger, Craig Hill, received just over 10 percent.

Welch, a resident of Windsor, has just finished serving his freshman term in Congress. In late July, Hill announced that he would challenge the incumbent. On his Web site, Hill, who lives in Montpelier, describes himself as "The only candidate for federal office whose campaign exposes visual evidence disproving the official conspiracy theory of 9/11."

Welch does not face a Republican challenger.

The second statewide primary race for lieutenant governor is still too close to determine. Before 8pm, with only 7 percent of all votes counted, Costello held a 18 point edge over Freeman, who had garnered 41 percent of the vote.