NASHVILLE – Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, announced today that her senior advisor, Leslie Hafner, will be leaving the House to return to the private sector.
Hafner, 47, who came to Harwell’s office last January after previously working as senior advisor to Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, will leave Jan. 5 to take a new role at the law and lobby firm Butler Snow.
“I know the decision to move away from public policy development was a difficult one,” Harwell said in a news release, adding, “I wish her and her family all the best in her new endeavors. I will miss having her in the Speaker’s Office, but I know she will never be far away.”
Harwell herself isn’t seeking reelection to the House as she pursues the 2018 Republican gubernatorial nomination.
As the speaker’s senior policy advisor, Hafner oversaw strategic projects and initiatives and worked on the Opioid Task Force and on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform.