Sam Little

Samuel Perry Little (born January 2, 1950) is an American farmer and politician from Bastrop, the seat of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. He is a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 14 in the northeastern portion of his state.

Samuel Little was born on January 2, 1950, in Bastrop, Louisiana. He attended both Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then Northeast Louisiana University.

Little is a long-term director of the Louisiana and Morehouse Parish Farm Bureau Federation and the Morehouse Gin Company. He is a member of the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District based in Simsboro in Lincoln Parish; he was appointed to the district by outgoing Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco for a term that expired on October 15, 2009.

Legislative matters

Little defeated Democrat Buddy M. Quinn, a retired dentist, also from Bastrop, by a margin of nine votes in the general election held on November 17, 2007. Little polled 3,936 votes (50.06 percent) to Quinn's 3,927 (49.94 percent) for the right to succeed term-limited Representative Charles McDonald, a Democrat from Bastrop, which is included within the Monroe standard metropolitan statistical area of northeast Louisiana. McDonald ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate in the October 20 nonpartisan blanket primary, having been defeated by another term-limited representative, Republican Mike Walsworth of West Monroe in Ouachita Parish.

Quinn won Morehouse Parish by 619 votes but trailed in Ouachita, West Carroll, and East Carroll, where portions of each parish are included in the district. Had the same number of voters who cast ballots in the attorney general's race also participated in the state representative contest, Quinn could have easily prevailed over Little, considering the 2-1 margin for successful Attorney General candidate Buddy Caldwell of Madison Parish over the Republican Royal Alexander of Shreveport.

Little had trailed in the higher-turnout October 20 primary, having received 4,479 (35 percent) to Quinn's 5,262 (41 percent). A second Republican, Stanley J. "Stan" Neathery, also of Bastrop, received 3,187 ballots (25 percent). Little lost 543 votes between the primary and the general election, but Quinn's tabulation decreased by 1,335.

Little advertised on the radio program of the conservative talk show host Moon Griffon. After his election, he indicated that his first priority in office was ethics reform. Governor Bobby Jindal called a special session of the legislature early in 2008 to address ethics reform. Little is pro-life and a vocal supporter of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A Republican group ran a picture of Little superimposed next to Governor-elect Jindal. Quinn charged that the advertisement was "dirty politics" because Jindalendorsed no one in the legislative race, having instead said that he could work with either candidate. Mike Walsworth had run a similar advertisement in his Senate race against McDonald.

Little serves on three House Committees: Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development; Natural Resources and Environment; Transportation, Highways, and Public Works.

2011 election

With his District 14 having been heavily redistricted, Little was handily unseated in the general election held on November 19, 2011, by fellow Republican Jay Morris, who received 5,005 votes (59.1 percent) to Little's 3,463 ballots (40.9 percent). In the campaign, Little and Morris accused each other of engaging in negative campaigning. Morris is employed in the mortgage service industry.

Morris led the three-candidate field in the primary held on October 22, with 5,078 votes (42.6 percent). Little trailed with 4,384 ballots (36.7 percent). A third Republican, Michael Echols, held the remaining but critical 2,471 votes (20.7 percent).

Little has been married since 1971 to the former Pamela Doles (born 1954). The couple has two daughters, Christina and Clair. Little is an active member of Providence Church in Lake Providence, the seat of East Carroll Parish.