BATON ROUGE – Republican Paul Sawyer won the open seat for the Louisiana House District 69 in Saturday's special primary election, according to complete but unofficial election results.

District 69 was left open after state Rep. Paula Davis resigned in January. The district includes parts of Baton Rouge and St. George.

The candidates were Republicans Adam Beach and Lynn Coxe Graham, along with Democrat Angela Roberts.

Unofficial results show Sawyer won with about 53% of the vote, avoiding a runoff. Roberts finished with about 40%, while Graham and Beach received roughly 4% and 3%, respectively.

Sawyer previously served as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and has also held roles with Louisiana Economic Development.

After securing the win Saturday night, Sawyer said he is eager to begin working with other lawmakers and focus on results.

“Their only criteria are to think and to talk and to listen and to act and get results. And to me, that's the litmus test of an excellent legislator, an excellent representative,” Sawyer said. “I've identified those people, and I can't wait to go work with them, because they want results, and I'm right there with them. I don't care about the chatter or the external pressure. I want to get results.”

Sawyer also reflected on the shift from working behind the scenes in government to serving as an elected official.

“I've been in public service just about all of my life, but I've been serving the people and serving the elected officials,” he said. “Now I'm in a capacity where I am carrying the torch for the people directly. It's overwhelming, it's humbling, and I'm just soaking it in right now.”

He said listening to constituents will be a key part of his approach to the job.

“I'm a listener. I will listen to anybody. I want to understand where everybody's coming from,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer is expected to be sworn in at the State Capitol in the coming days once election results are certified, allowing District 69 to regain representation during the current legislative session.

Unofficial turnout for the election was about 16%, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s website.