Patsy Hazlewood Running For Reelection: A Look At Her Voting Record

Image Credit: Representative Patsy Hazlewood / Facebook & Antony-22 / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain-District 27) is running for reelection in 2024. A look at her recent voting record shows that while she is a Republican, she is far from being a true conservative.

In 2019, Hazlewood voted against legislation (HB2315) to prohibit state and local governments from adoption sanctuary policies.

She also voted against legislation (HB1239) that would ban government entities from contracting with a person who does not provide evidence of work authorization status.

In 2020, Hazlewood refused to vote on legislation (HB2263) to ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected.

She also refused to vote on the “Abortion Reversal Bill” (HB2568) that aimed to require signs be posted at abortion clinics that chemical abortions may be reversed following the first dose of a two dose treatment

In 2021, Hazlewood voted against legislation (HB9072) to authorize partisan elections for school board members.

In 2022, Hazlewood made it into The Tennessee Conservative’s RINO Report as our Tennessee House RINO legislator of the year. 

Some of her votes in 2022 that earned her this distinction include:

Voting for Corporate Welfare.

Along with Governor Bill Lee, and other Republicans, Hazlewood supported allocating $550 million in state bonds to help fund a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. She also sponsored a bill, that was signed into law in May, to allow the Chattanooga Lookouts to retain a sales tax deal for a new stadium in the city.

Voting against the 2022 Bill To Protect Free Speech on Social Media.

HB2369/SB2161 was killed by Hazlewood and two other Republicans after being placed “behind the budget” and failing to receive funding. The bill sought to designate social media platforms as Common Carriers – which would have made them subject to common carrier law – and established that such platforms could not intentionally deplatform or shadow ban social media users

Voting against a bill that would have prevented taxpayer-funded entertainment venues from making COVID vaccines or “passports” a requirement for entry.

Voting against a bill that would have prevented taxpayer-funded entertainment venues from making COVID vaccines or “passports” a requirement for entry.

The bill failed in the House Business & Utilities Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee when Hazlewood and three of her Republican colleagues voted against it.

Voting against making the Bible Tennessee’s Official Book.

While the House Joint Resolution passed in the House, one Republican voted no, with Hazlewood and two others declining to vote at all.

Voting against lowering the concealed carry age to 18.

Hazlewood was joined by two other Republicans in voting against this bill which nevertheless passed the House.

Also in 2022, Hazlewood voted for legislation (HB2309) to give illegal aliens professional licenses.

And, she voted for the “Incumbent Protection Bill” (HB1201) to silence Tennessee Grassroots.

While we didn’t award her any prizes in our 2023 RINO report, Hazlewood co-sponsored a bill in last year’s legislative session to weaken the Human Life Protection Act, estimated to be saving around 900 children from abortion every month in Tennessee.

Tennessee’s law is one of the strongest in the nation when it comes to protecting the unborn. HB1440/SB857 would have removed protection of some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens by allowing abortions in certain circumstances.

After much debate and protest from conservative Tennesseans, aided by TN Right to Life, the bill was eventually amended in such a way as to not undo the original intent of the law.

In the end, the legislation that was passed does not allow for more unborn children to be aborted in the state, but does clarify that treatment for ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy or a miscarriage are not violations of the law and provides an exception for when the life of a mother is at risk or there is risk of irreversible harm to a major bodily function.

Hazlewood signed on to the original bill, along with many other Republicans, to expand abortion in the state. Hardly the most conservative position.

Also in 2023, Hazlewood voted for legislation (HB1109) to criminalize parents based on anonymous allegations of abuse or neglect.

She also voted for legislation (HB0316) that paves the way for global currency in Tennessee.

Hazelwood co-sponsored a bill (HB0321) to use of public-private partnerships for the construction of toll roads.

And she co-sponsored another bill (HB0883) to allow a subjective standard for physicians to potentially and willfully permit abortion for a patient in bad faith.

In the 2024 legislative session, Hazlewood’s hits kept on coming. 

She voted to block public access to Department of Tourist Development records (HB1692).

Hazlewood voted against bill (HB2882) that would require age-appropriate firearm safety courses for TN Public school students.

She voted in favor of legislation that critics say has the earmarks of a “Red Flag Bill” that expands mandatory reporting by ‘mental health professionals’ of anything they view as a potential threat (HB1625).

Hazlewood voted in favor of blocking access to the autopsy reports of children who are victims of violent crime, thereby allowing their cases to go unsolved in some cases (HB1695).

She also voted in favor of bill (HB1808) making it easier to remove foster kids from their homes and funnel them back into the system.

Hazlewood voted for an amendment to a bill to arm Tennessee Teachers (HB1202) that sought to narrow the application of the law to not apply to any counties having a population of “not less than 366,200 nor more than 366,300.

She proposed an amendment that altered a bill to allow civil penalties for those who traffic minors for gender-altering medical procedures (HB2310) that weakened the legislation by providing loopholes.

And finally, Hazlewood proposed an amendment that altered a bill to criminalize abortion trafficking of minors (HB1895) that weakened the legislation by providing another loophole.

The Tennessee Legislative Report Card has given Hazlewood a 77 as her vote score. Of note, the report card states that she received 63.96% of her campaign donations from special interests. View Hazlewood’s report card HERE.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.