Stacey Campfield

NASHVILLE - Republican Sen. Stacey Campfield has lost his District 7 seat to a Knoxville cardiac surgeon.

With 16 percent of precincts reporting in Thursday night's primary election, Richard Briggs had 10,657 votes, or 69 percent, compared with Campfield's 4,143 votes, or 26 percent.

The primary was expected to be tough for Campfield, a highly visible lawmaker who often drew attention and sometimes ridicule for his polarizing comments, as well as sponsoring contentious bills on social issues.

Most recently, he made national news when he compared the federal health care law to the forced transportation of Jews to concentration camps during the Holocaust in a blog post.