Patsy HazlewoodRetired state economic director Patsy Hazlewood is the Republican nominee for House District 27.
Hazlewood, a former telecommunications executive who recently retired as regional director of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, beat Tommy Crangle, a retired engineer and former Hamilton County election commissioner, by about 1,000 votes in Thursday's primary election.
"I'm just so excited about being the Republican nominee and then going to Nashville to get things done," Hazlewood said Thursday night. "It's a huge honor."
The House District 27 race -- the district includes West Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy, Red Bank and several other communities -- began with four Republican candidates after Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, decided not to run for re-election.
But Tom McCullough, former principal at Signal Mountain Middle/High School and a former Georgia superintendent, dropped out after Hazlewood entered the race in April. Then candidate Charlie White dropped out of the race in June and endorsed Hazlewood.
Both Hazlewood and Crangle ran on conservative platforms. But Crangle, who declined to comment Thursday night, took a more extreme approach to state issues by saying he wanted to work to end the Common Core curriculum and kill the state's tax on dividend income.
Hazlewood argued the Common Core curriculum needed adjustments and that the tax should be phased out gradually.
Hazlewood now will face Eric McRoy, the only Democratic candidate to run, in November.
Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.