sentences:  Even with its historic Populism a fading memory, and no Unionist history, Sampson was one of seven North Carolina counties to vote for Wendell Willkie in 1940, and one of fourteen to vote for Thomas E. Dewey in 1944.This was due to the fact that it was the leading centre for the Populist Party during the 1890s under local hero Marion Butler – more so indeed than Nash and Chatham counties which had given James B. Weaver a plurality in the 1892 election – and the fact that to compete with the dominant Democratic Party the two would fuse, with the result that after the Populists' demise its adherents turned to the Republicans.In the North Carolina House of Representatives, Sampson County is mostly in the 22nd District, represented by Republican William D. Brisson, although a small part in the east of the county is part of the 21st District represented by Democrat Raymond Smith, Jr., as of May 2020.