Perry Announces Run for State Senate

Jack Perry and Rob Sampson. OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN IMAGES

Nearly two months after ending his Democratic primary challenge for the seat held by Congressman John Larson, former Town Councilor Jack Perry has announced that he will be running to represent the 16^th District in Connecticut’s State Senate. This race will pit him against the incumbent Senator, Republican Rob Sampson.

This will not be the first time Perry and Sampson have competed for votes in the district. Back in 2020, Perry, then running as an independent with an endorsement from the Working Families Party, lost to Sampson with 46.2% of the vote, versus Sampson’s 53.8%.

Connecticut’s state senate races are held every two years. Democrat Chris Robertson unsuccessfully challenged Sampson in 2022, getting 41.4% of the vote to Sampson’s 58.6%, and again in 2024, when he lost 43.4% to 56.6%.

Perry, who is 36, served as a member of Southington’s Town Council from 2021 to 2025 and has been active in community service. He is the founder of a trash hauling business, HQ Dumpsters, that was sold to Plainville-based hauler CWPM in 2024; Perry currently serves as operations manager for that firm. His campaign webpage highlights several issues; among the top three are improving the economy for the working class, providing people with access to better healthcare, and supporting small businesses.

Perry says that he is optimistic about his chances this time around, given the success that Democratic candidates had in Connecticut last fall. Across the state, 25 towns switched from Republican to Democratic control, while only one switched to Republican. Democrats in Southington regained control of the Board of Education and managed a tie on the Board of Finance. At the level of Town Council, Republicans bucked the statewide trend, holding on to a 6-3 majority.

The 16th Senate district includes Prospect, Southington, and Wolcott, where Sampson lives, as well as parts of Cheshire and Waterbury.

Sampson, who is 56, kicked off his own re-election campaign on January 12. He has been part of state government since 2010, when he was first elected to the House of Representatives. Sampson has built up a devoted following across Connecticut, and to some extent nationally, by cultivating a reputation as a small-government conservative. The issues page on his website gives pride of place to his advocacy of low taxes and limited government spending, Second Amendment rights, and lower energy costs. He currently sits on the Government Administration and Elections Committee, the Government Oversight Committee, the Housing Committee, and the Labor and Public Employees Committee.

Editor's note: the text of this article has been corrected to note that 25 towns in Connecticut switched from Republican to Democratic control in the 2025 municipal elections - not from Democratic to Republican, as original printed.