The Southington Outsider 2026 Candidate Video Sessions: A Preview
In just a few days, the Southington Outsider will publish the videos of question-and-answer sessions that were held with eight of the candidates running to represent Southington at the State Capital. These sessions were filmed last Thursday, October 1, in the Community Room of the Southington Police Station. Our board member Wayne Edwards managed the filming and editing, with assistance from Jay Sanders. We are grateful to all of the participants and videographers and everyone who helped to make things run smooth.
Those who participated in the video sessions were:
Senator Rob Sampson (R) and his challenger Jack Perry (D)
81st District Representative Chris Poulos (D) and his challenger Tim Wilk (R)
80th District Representative Gale Mastrofrancesco (R) and her challenger Cheryl Hilton (D)
22nd District Representative Rebecca Martinez (D) and her challenger Rich Mette (R)
30th District Representative Donna Veach (R) and her challenger Linda Pierce (D) will have written responses to the questions.
All of Southington is in the 16th Senate District, which is represented by Sen. Sampson.
The 81st House District is the only one that lies entirely within Southington’s borders. The other three districts are split between Southington and Wolcott (80th), Southington, Plainville, and Farmington (22nd), and Southington and Berlin (22nd). As a result, more than half of the town’s voters are represented by people who are based outside of its borders.
Four Common Questions
Candidates first introduced themselves and answered the following four questions:
A. What changes would you work for at the state level to make it easier for residents to afford electricity?
B. What is the most useful thing the state could do right now to help its municipalities?
C. Which segment of the population do you feel has needs that are being overlooked by the state?
D. Identify a national or international issue that impacts us in Connecticut. How should this issue be addressed?
Two Adversarial Questions
After that, each candidate replied to two adversarial questions crafted by their opponents:
For Sen. Rob Sampson from Jack Perry
1. In 2023, you were the only Senator of either party who voted against the bipartisan budget, which included approximately $460 million per year in tax relief - the largest low- and middle-income tax cut in Connecticut history, which increased the Earned Income Tax Credit for 211,000 working families and expanded tax relief for seniors. Especially given that every other Republican state senator voted for this historic tax cut aimed directly at middle-class families, how can you justify this extreme vote against relief for your constituents?
2. In 2020 you cast the only vote in the state Senate against capping insulin, calling it socialism. In 2025, you continued your refusal to protect against price-gouging for life-saving drugs, opposing Connecticut’s historic price caps on generic pharmaceuticals. How can district families trust you to lower the cost of their medications?
For Jack Perry from Sen. Rob Sampson
1. You describe yourself as “An Independent Voice for All of Us.” Please identify two significant laws or major policy initiatives advanced by Governor Lamont and Connecticut legislative Democrats during the current term that you believe were wrong, explain specifically what you object to in each, and tell voters how you would have voted.
2. Your campaign has called Senator Sampson “Ripoff Rob” and an “extremist,” while comments from Senator Sampson and other constituents challenging your claims have been removed and their accounts blocked. You have portrayed yourself as offering a more civil and independent kind of politics; how do you reconcile those tactics with that message, and is deleting criticism and blocking constituents the standard of political discourse you believe candidates for public office should follow?
For Rep. Chris Poulos from Tim Wilk
1. Connecticut residents continue to face the second-highest taxes and electricity bills in the nation. If more than a decade of one-party rule hasn’t made life more affordable, as it clearly isn’t, why shouldn’t people vote for a change?
2. What vote do you regret the most?
For Tim Wilk from Rep. Chris Poulos
1. What is one of Chris Poulos’ accomplishments that you agree with and support? Please explain why.
2. As someone who spent his career in law enforcement, your reaction to the deaths of Americans Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti during encounters with federal immigration-enforcement officers in Minneapolis bears special weight. Based on what you have seen and heard about these incidents, do you think the officers’ actions were justified? And regardless of someone’s immigration status or political views, do you believe federal officers must be held accountable when deadly force is used unlawfully?
For Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco from Cheryl Hilton
1. Representative Mastrofrancesco, you voted against the FY26/27 state budget and subsequent budget adjustment package. Those measures delivered $270 million in municipal aid, $190 million in additional education funding, property tax relief, family caregiver tax credits, firefighter cancer benefits, nursing home workforce investments, aging-in-place grants, early childhood education funding, and Medicaid rate increases. What specific budget proposal did you support that would have provided comparable benefits to the residents of Wolcott and Southington, and where in your proposal would the funding have come from?
2. Representative Mastrofrancesco, many members of your own party joined Democrats in supporting House Bill 5003, Workforce Development and Protection for Assaulted Workers, because it expanded benefits for assaulted healthcare workers and teachers, strengthened support for first responders and veterans, and provided new protections for the families of those killed in the line of duty. Why were those provisions not enough to earn your support, and which specific benefits contained in the bill did you object to?
For Cheryl Hilton from Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco
1. Do you support requiring a valid photo ID to vote in person and verifying voter signatures on absentee ballots? Yes or no, and please explain.
2. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld state laws that restrict participation on women’s and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex. Do you support the Supreme Court’s decision, and would you support legislation in Connecticut prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams? Yes or no, and please explain.
For Rep. Rebecca Martinez from Richard Mette
1. You are endorsed by the Working Family Party (WFP). In 2020, The Working Family Party position was to defund the police and reallocate funds. The WFP Charter called for a shift of resources from police, jails, and detentions centers, shifting to unarmed community-based responders, and endorsing candidates who are committed to defunding the police and rejecting police union support. Do you still support the WFP’s historical advocacy of Defund the Police? If you don’t, then why did you accept the WFP’s endorsement?
2. Why did you propose HB5133, an income tax increase, HB5139, for estate tax recapture, HB5186, a surcharge on business entity tax surcharges, and support bills raising Connecticut citizen tax burdens while Connecticut is ranked nationally with the 3rd highest citizen tax burden and the 5th highest property tax burden? Why no bills to lower state taxes and improve all citizens’ affordability?
For Rich Mette from Rep. Rebecca Martinez
1. On September 2, you were approved for a Citizens’ Election Program grant. That same day, the SEEC opened an investigation about contribution information connected to your application. How many contributions are involved, and what information was wrong or did not match? Will you release the contribution forms so voters can see what happened?
2. Rep. Rebecca Martinez has helped bring millions of dollars in state funding back to the 22nd District for schools, town aid and local projects. Do you agree with using state funding for those investments? Which, if any, of those investments would you have opposed?
For Linda Pierce from Rep. Donna Veach
1. What are your thoughts on requiring voter ID for elections?
2. Please detail how you would accomplish making Connecticut more affordable.
For Rep. Donna Veach from Linda Pierce
1. Do you believe every person should have the freedom to make their own reproductive choices—including the right to choose what happens to their pregnancy when continuing it puts their life at serious risk?
2. Many Berlin and Southington residents—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—are deeply concerned about what they’re seeing from the federal government. You are a Republican and a supporter of President Trump. Where do you stand right now with regard to what is happening at the Federal level and how these policies affect Connecticut residents?
One Free Question and Final Pitch
Finally, candidates were given the opportunity to answer a question that they had written for themselves.
Rep. Rob Sampson
What do you most want Southington residents to understand about the way you have represented them in Hartford and the record you have built on their behalf?
Jack Perry
How do you define effective representation, and how does this vision clash with that of your opponent?
Rep. Chris Poulos
You refer to yourself as an ‘independent thinker.’ What does that mean?
Tim Wilk
Is there anything else that you would like voters to know about you?
Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco
Can you point out the differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party today?
Cheryl Hilton
Affordability, strong public schools and support for seniors have been central themes of your campaign. What specific actions would you take in your first term to advance those priorities for Wolcott and Southington?
Rep. Rebecca Martinez
What specific accomplishments can you point to from your first term representing the 22nd District?
Rich Mette
What proposals do you have for lowering Connecticut’s energy costs, the 3rd highest in the nation, in addition to controlling Public Benefits and lowering state taxes?
Rep. Donna Veach
As a member of the minority, how have you fought to hold the majority party accountable, protect taxpayers from government overreach, and defend the constitutional rights of those whose voices might otherwise be ignored?
Linda Pierce
What would you do differently as State Representative for the 30th District representing Berlin & Southington?
Each candidate was allowed a maximum of nine minutes for their introduction and common questions, four minutes to address their adversarial questions, and two minutes for their free questions and closing statement.
