There’s not much of a minority to lead after last week’s elections. The entire state Senate Republican caucus is now just Sampson and two other members — Eric Berthel of Watertown and Henri Martin of Bristol. Berthel reportedly backed Sampson — and that was it.
Sampson has become one of the state’s most high-profile lawmakers, often as a contrarian voice. After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, he was one of the few lawmakers to oppose a bill for stronger gun regulations.
“I don't see how the numerous provisions listed in this bill will make any particular firearm safer or more or less deadly or how any provisions in this bill would prohibit any future acts of violence that might be committed by criminals who are bent on acts of evil," he said then.
He’s often in the minority, if not alone, in his votes. In 2023, he was the only lawmaker to oppose exonerating people executed as witches in the 1600s.
“I certainly don’t believe that the people that were charged and sentenced and killed based on their conviction of witchcraft were guilty of witchcraft," Sampson said. "However, I don’t know anything about their trials; I don’t know anything about the charges that were levied against them.”
He’s opposed expanding paid sick leave and requiring employers to offer bathroom breaks. In 2024, he opposed a minimum wage raise for tipped workers.
“Ultimately, this might lead to more of a standardized salary, as opposed to, you know, waiters, who hustle being able to make more money," he said then. "And I think that's sad. I think we will suffer as customers and consumers and restaurants as a result."
Maybe his most notable moment was when he was asked whether there’s a power imbalance between landlords and tenants.
“Yes, and generally speaking it's in favor of the tenant," he replied, leading to laughter.
Sampson, who’s a landlord himself, later compared laws to protect tenants from eviction to slavery. Sampson and his two fellow Republicans will face 33 Democrats in the state senate, led by Senator Bob Duff of Norwalk.