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Erin Hackley was elected as the new Troup County coroner in the election Tuesday night.

Hackley, who is currently the deputy coroner will step into the role on Jan 1, 2021. Hackley defeated Brandon Adams by a slim margin of 4,773 to 4,205.

“I am very excited for this,” Hackley said. “I love doing this job, and now I get to do it for four more years. I have been preparing for this day for three years.”

Hackley said she stayed up all night waiting for the results to come in.

“It was a really long day, but it was a relief when they came in,” Hackley said. “Everything we have been working for paid off. I am looking forward to working hard to make the office more accessible.”

Hackley will make coroner her full-time job and is in the works now to have a physical office for coroner.

“We currently work out of our houses and work on bodies at West Georgia (WellStar),” Hackley said. “I am going to work on granting funding and make it a top priority to find grant opportunities to get morgues in place.”

Adams said he was disappointed that he lost but proud that it was a close race.

“I wanted to win but still felt proud,” Adams said. “Erin technically isn’t an incumbent but she has been doing the job for a while. I feel proud of how narrow the results were.”

Adams said he plans to come back in 2024 to run again.