Sen. Rob Sampson was chosen this week as the next Republican minority leader in the Connecticut Senate, putting him at the helm of the smallest caucus in the chamber’s history with just three members.
Sampson, a Wolcott resident who has served in the Legislature since 2011, was already one of the most recognizable Republicans in the General Assembly due to his frequent appearances in the Senate, where he obstructed numerous bills from Democratic leaders in recent years.
In his newly elected leadership position, Sampson will become one of the most prominent figures in the Connecticut Republican Party, which is seeking to rebuild after devastating statewide election losses in this year’s midterm elections.
Sampson, by default, will become the highest-ranking Republican officeholder in the state, given that the party does not hold any statewide constitutional office and has not held a seat in the state’s congressional delegation since 2008.
This week, Sampson and Sen. Eric Berthel, who was chosen as the Senate’s second Republican, released a statement about their ascension to the leadership positions, which remained empty following the Nov. 3 loss of eight Republican seats.
In this week’s press release, the two Republican lawmakers pledged to rebuild their party’s numbers in the General Assembly, which have been steadily declining since President Donald Trump’s first term, and they took a passing shot at some of their own party’s incumbent members.
The statement referred to “Republicans in positions of authority who were simply content to remain in the minority.” And he accused these anonymous individuals of setting aside Republican principles when it suited them.
That contrasts with what Sampson is known for in the Upper House: regularly speaking for hours on legislation he opposes.
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In an interview Tuesday, Sampson said he didn’t want to portray the new Senate Republican caucus as an opposition party, and he suggested he was willing to work with his Democratic colleagues on bills he agreed with.
But he said he intends to use what little power the caucus has to highlight what differentiates Republicans from the Democratic supermajority.
“If there is a failure within the Connecticut Republican Party when it comes to the Legislature, it is our inability to give voters a clear contrast and choice,” Sampson said.
Senator Bob Duff, who was just elected as the new President of the Senate, said the three Republicans remaining in the Senate were duly elected by their constituents and that he respects the authority those constituents have entrusted to these senators.
But Duff, who represents Norwalk and part of Darien, also pointed out that Democrats now hold a 30-seat advantage in the Senate, and he said he and his fellow Democrats intend to use those numbers to advance their agenda, which includes tackling Connecticut’s high cost of living and challenging President Donald Trump’s policies.
He said it was up to Republicans to decide how much they wanted to support the program.
The trio of Republicans remaining in the Senate — Sampson, Berthel and Sen. Henri Martin — received the votes of about 65,000 people in their three districts, which cover parts of Southington, Bristol, Watertown and 19 other municipalities in the Naugatuck Valley region.
Sampson said he thinks it’s their job to represent every voter in the state who voted for a Republican this year. “We still represent 40 percent of Connecticut residents who voted Republican,” he said.
Still, the senator acknowledged the physical and mathematical limits of what Republicans can hope to accomplish over the next two years, given that they face a 33-3 disadvantage in the Senate.
Engaging in extended debate, Sampson said, will be more difficult in 2027 with only three Republicans available to speak.
“It’s diminished to the point where I don’t know it’s going to be effective at all,” he said. “Even if we try as hard as we can, it will be so exhausting and demanding that I don’t know how much longer we can continue.”
The Senate’s lopsided makeup, Sampson said, will also make it virtually impossible for the three Republican senators to participate on all legislative committees.
Sampson said his small caucus will have to rely on his Republican colleagues in the House, who also suffered losses this year, to keep them informed of bills being considered by those committees.
Given all these constraints, Sampson said, the most effective tool he and his Republican colleagues could have are Connecticut residents. And he said Republicans should exploit that power by holding protests at the state Capitol.
During Gov. Ned Lamont’s first term, Republicans helped organize protests, which contributed to lawmakers dropping a proposal to impose tolls on Connecticut highways. And in recent sessions, Republicans have helped rally large groups of parents opposed to Democratic proposals to tighten regulations on homeschooling in the state.
“I think the No. 1 thing we will use as a small three-person Senate Republican caucus is the public,” Sampson said. “We will work very hard to ensure that when expensive bills benefit Connecticut, we invest our time and energy to ensure public participation.”
Sampson is also counting on Democrats encountering divisions within their own caucus over what policies to prioritize and where the party is headed.
“I think trying to fight a very large caucus of members in both chambers is just as difficult as trying to figure out what to do when you have very few,” Sampson said. “Because they’re going to run the gamut. There’s going to be a wide range of Democrats, from people who are pretty moderate to people who I would consider extremists.”
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