DIXFIELD – By 11:15 p.m. Tuesday night, political newcomer Linda Petrie, D-Mexico, led incumbent Rep. Randy Hotham, R-Dixfield, in the District 93 race.

Petrie won Mexico, garnering 915 votes to Hotham’s 579. Hotham won Dixfield, tallying 788 votes to Petrie’s 530. Towns not yet reporting in were Canton, Carthage and Peru.

Hotham, a service technician for MeadWestvaco, is seeking a second term to make Maine a friendlier place in which to do business, and thus, to create jobs.

If re-elected, he said he would help move the state to a better position economically.

“I would hope that it would be an economic position that would attract jobs instead of sending them away. A place for our children to call home,” he said.

Petrie, a retired teacher of 38 years, said her priorities were economic development, health care, taxes and tax relief, education and the environment.

If elected, she wants the Legislature to consider merging various service agencies to create some cost-cutting efficiency and prevent future cuts that negatively affect Maine residents.