Samuel J. Tedesco

Samuel J. Tedesco (February 21, 1915 – August 5, 2003) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who was the 96th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1963 to 1966. He also served as Mayor of Bridgeport and as a judge.

He was born to an Italian immigrant family in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Tedesco and Elizabeth (née Gelormino) Tedesco. Following Elizabeth's death, Joseph married her sister, politician Jane Tedesco. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky, and his law degree from Boston University. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1941 to 1943, representing the city of Bridgeport alongside Milton J. Herman. He subsequently fought in WWII, serving in the European theater in France and Belgium.

Following the war, Tedesco was elected to the Connecticut Senate as a Democrat, and served as Minority Leader. After leaving the senate in 1953, he defeated incumbent Jasper McLevy to become mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1957. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1963. Following his concurrent lieutenant governorship and mayorship, he was a Superior court judge and later administrative judge of Fairfield County. He was disbarred and fined in 1976 for notarizing a forged signature. Tedesco retired as a judge in 1980.

He and his wife moved to California in 1989, where he died 14 years later of pneumonia.