Jarrod Sammis

Jarrod E. Sammis (born 1989 or 1990) is an American politician who has served in the Vermont House of Representatives since 2023, representing the Rutland-3 district, which includes Castleton. Initially elected as a member of the Republican Party, he switched to the Libertarian Party in May 2023. He is currently the only Libertarian holding elected office as a state legislator in the United States.

Jarrod Sammis was born in 1989 or 1990^[1] in Middlebury, Vermont, and he grew up in Ticonderoga, New York. His family has resided in the region for several centuries.^[2][3] After attending from Fair Haven Union High School, he moved to Castleton, Vermont, where began attending Castleton State College (now Castleton University) in 2009. Sammis graduated from Castleton State College in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in communication and public relations. He works as a realtor and marketing coordinator at his family's real estate company, Century 21 Adirondacks.^[2][4]

Sammis ran for the Vermont House of Representatives as a member of the Republican Party in the 2022 election, running in the Rutland-3 district, which contains Castleton.^[5] He was recruited by Robert Helm, the district's retiring representative.^[6] A self-identified libertarian who had previously been a volunteer for Gary Johnson's 2016 presidential campaign, Sammis campaigned on three key issues: protecting Vermont's education system by sequestering the education budget to "protect it from being siphoned from other programs", improving substance abuse and mental health programs, and preserving civil liberties, including LGBTQ rights.^[4][5] He also favored "reducing the tax burden to make Vermont more affordable", and was opposed to a proposed carbon tax. Sammis's opponent was Democratic nominee Mary Droege, a lecturer at Castleton University and the chair of the Castleton Democratic Committee, who campaigned primarily on environmental issues. During the campaign, several deleted YouTube videos published by Sammis resurfaced when archived copies were posted to a blog; in the videos, he "question[ed] the legitimacy of Joe Biden's 2020 election win and joked about shooting communists".^[7] He later declined to attend a candidate forum because he wasn't sent the questions prior to the event.^[8] Sammis was elected to the state house, receiving 835 votes to Droege's 793, a margin of 43 votes.^[9]

During his tenure, Sammis voted against the Affordable Heat Act, a bill which regulates the importation of fossil heating fuels into Vermont in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.^[10] He also opposed the merger of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College into a single university, Vermont State University.^[11] According to the Vermont Daily Chronicle, he has also been a "strong defender of Libraries of the Vermont State College System, and has worked to keep herbicides out of Lake Bomoseen".^[12] He is a member of the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development.^[2]

During the press conference for this party switch, Sammis stated his intention of introducing a bill which would "forbid the Vermont National Guard from being deployed overseas without a formal federal declaration of war".^[6]

At a press conference on May 3, 2023, Sammis announced he was officially switching to the Libertarian Party, becoming the only Libertarian state legislator in the country, and the first Libertarian member of the Vermont Legislature since Neil Randall, who was elected to the state house as a Libertarian in 1998 and left the party in 2000. Sammis claimed that he ran a joint Republican-Libertarian fusion ticket, though this was not listed on the ballot. Sammis's switch was supported by high-ranking members of the Libertarian Party of Vermont and the Libertarian National Committee. He also distanced himself from the Mises Caucus, a prominent group within the Libertarian Party. The switch was criticized by state Republican officials, particularly Helm, who stated "[Sammis] doesn’t seem to want to abide by any rules of the House or any of that, from what other legislators tell me. People call me and tell me, 'Why’d you send me this guy?'"^[6][12]