Hazlewood joins race for House GOP Caucus chair

Hazlewood

Rep. Patsy Hazlewood of Signal Mountain is joining the race for House Republican Caucus chair, reports Andy Sher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The position is opening because of the nomination of Rep. Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) to become the House speaker next week.

Hazlewood is a late entry into the race. She joins Reps. Michael Curcio of Dickson, Jeremy Faison of Cosby, and Jerry Sexton of Bean Station in the contest for the No. 3 caucus leadership position.

Hazlewood, who served as vice chair of the powerful House Finance Committee this session, told Sher she realizes “it is a little bit late in the game” to join the fray.

“But I’ve spent the last few days talking to our members and I do believe there’s room and there’s interest in having me in the role. And again, not to disparage in any way any of the other candidates, I think there’s room for a fourth,” she said.

Hazlewood is a retired AT&T executive and a onetime regional director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

The caucus chair is responsible for messaging and political functions of the caucus. Fundraising and campaign work are a major focus of the job. The caucus press secretary is also housed within the office.

“I’m accustomed to working with a lot of divergent opinions,” Hazlewood said. “One of the things I want all to understand is we’re all reflective of our districts. Under this leadership, everyone’s going to be free to vote their districts.”