Dixon McMakin projected winner in 68 District House seat

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - WAFB’s Political Analyst Jim Engster projects Dixon McMakin as winner in the 68 District House race.

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Republican Dixon McMakin is hoping to begin his political career here in District 68 while Democrat Belinda Davis says her resume speaks for itself.

State Representative runoff between Dixon McMakin and Belinda Davis for District 68.(WAFB)

The race to be the next state representative for District 68 is proving to be a close one. With both Davis and Dixon McMakin finishing out at 31% in the primary. Mcmakin only beat Davis by less than a hundred votes. And both are hoping to scoop up voters who went with Republican Laurie Adams who finished 3rd last Saturday. And with only 40% of voters in the district showing up to the polls, every vote is crucial.

“It does give me an opportunity to try to grow my vote share through messaging and getting out the vote and trying to appeal to some of Laurie white Adam’s voters,” said Davis.

“That’s why it’s so crucial to go meet those individual people that you know voted for you, the ones that might have voted for another republican candidate to make sure they get out to vote,” McMakin explained.

Davis has spent the last 18 years working at LSU. And for the last 4 years, when she’s not working on campus, she’s doing work as a board member of the Louisiana Board of Education where she was appointed to a vacant seat by Governor John Bel Edwards in 2019. She says the lack of funding for early childhood education and teacher pay raises was what motivated her to run.

“This happened in a year we had the money. Right, in the past they pivoted these two groups against each other and say oh we can’t fully fund both. But this year they could have, and they chose not to. And so, I think we need legislators who are willing to invest in Louisiana’s children because they’re the future of our state,” Davis added.

McMakin on the other hand is from District 68, born and raised, even graduating from Catholic High, and represents a younger generation of Louisiana voters. He tells me watching family and friends flee the state is what made him want to run.

“I’m one of 8 cousins that came to LSU, there’s only 2 of us left here in Louisiana. And people felt that story when I told them that I’m tired of seeing my friends and family leave and so I want to do something about it. My 5th grade basketball coach lives in the district and so I get to represent my family and friends. That’s what got me into the race and that’s what will keep me motivated as well,” said McMakin.

Between now and election day on November 18th both candidates say they’ll be working extra hard to try and appeal to some of those voters who may have been looking for a different candidate.

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