Race for Louisiana Senate seat representing Livingston Parish gets heated days before election
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Two Republican state representatives are battling it out for the Senate District 13 seat which represents most of Livingston Parish.
The race is between State Representative Valarie Hodges and State Representative Buddy Mincey Jr.
The race has gotten pretty ugly between the pair, and both believe they are the most qualified for the position.
“I would say my track record, my experience, and I am a true conservative. That for the values that what we stand for, conservative values, faith, family and freedom, I’m your girl,” said Rep. Valarie Hodges (R), State Senate District 13 candidate.
“I don’t think there’s any comparison between the two candidates. You know, I think I’ve got 17 years of hard work and I’ve been able to deliver and brought accomplishments to our parish,” said Rep. Buddy Mincey Jr. (R), State Senate District 13 candidate.
The gloves have come off in the race between the two Republicans, with negative mailers about the other candidates bombarding voters’ mailboxes.
“The special interests from Baton Rouge have been the ones that have been the ones that have made this such a contentious race. The Baton Rouge special interests have been trying to select this position, this senator’s spot, for the last four terms,” said Rep. Mincey.
“Well, it’s gotten a lot more negative than I would like it to be Lester, and a whole lot more negative. And my campaign, I’ve tried to take the high road, a lot has been said that is not true, and I would ask people to go look at my record,” said Rep. Hodes.
With both candidates and PACs hurling insults and accusations at the other, each candidate told WAFB the main one they’d like to debunk.
“I think the biggest lie that was the most upsetting to me, was saying that I voted for insurance rate increases, which is ludacris. I have four teenage daughters that drive, why would I be voting to raise insurance rates, it was the actual opposite, I voted to lower insurance rates,” said Rep. Hodges.
“There’s been at least 50 lies that’s been told about me. One of them just recently was that my brother-in-law, you know we hired my brother-in-law for a contract for FEMA. You know, my brother-in-law worked for a company, he didn’t have any vested interest in the company. He was just an employee. After the 2016 flood we hired people to come in and help us maximize the monies that we get in from FEMA. This was something that went through a selection process, I had nothing to do witht he selection process, I wasn’t even there for the vote when they made a selection,” said Rep. Mincey.
Representative Valarie Hodges has been in her position for 12 years now and is term limited.
She says she’s been leading the fight to stop flooding with projects like the COmite River Diversion Canal, and if elected her top priorities would be continuing the fight to stop flooding, do tort reform, and reduce taxes.
“I think what makes me the right person Lester is my experiences. I’m a true conservative, I have a proven track record that shows that. You can look at my voting record to see how I voted to lower taxes, the things that I stand for,” said Rep. Hodges.
Representative Mincey has spent the last 17 years on the Livingston School Board and as State Representative. He says his top priorities if elected are to continue to be a champion for education, continue infrastructure improvements, and flood protection.
“You know all of the noise and all the distractions that’s taken away from the true issue of who’s the best person to lead our parish forward and make things better for here. And I think without question, my 17-year record indicates that I am that person,” said Rep. Mincey.
Election day is Saturday, October 14.
Both candidates are hopeful voters look at their platforms and voting records before casting their ballots.
Check out both candidates’ campaign Facebook pages below:
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