Tag: justin jones

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who became Democratic heroes as members of the so-called “Tennessee Three,” are hoping to once again reclaim their legislative seats Thursday after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor.

The young Black lawmakers were both reinstated by local officials, but only on an interim basis. To fully take back their positions, they must advance through a special election. Both easily cleared their primary election in June, and now face general election opponents for districts that heavily favor Democrats.

Jones, who lives in Nashville, is up against Republican candidate Laura Nelson. Meanwhile, Pearson, from Memphis, faces independent candidate Jeff Johnston.

“Let’s send a clear message to everyone who thought they could silence the voice of District 86,” Pearson tweeted earlier this month. “You can’t expel a movement!”

Jones and Pearson were elected to the GOP-dominated Statehouse last year. Both lawmakers flew relatively under the radar, even as they criticized their Republican colleagues’ policies. It wasn’t until this spring that their political careers received a boost when they joined fellow Democrat Rep. Gloria Johnson in a protest for more gun control on the House floor.

The demonstration took place just days after a fatal shooting in Nashville at a private Christian school where a shooter killed three children and three adults. As thousands of protesters flooded the Capitol building to demand that the Republican supermajority enact some sort of restrictions on firearms, the three lawmakers approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn, and joined the protesters’ chants and cries for action.

Republican lawmakers quickly declared that their actions violated House rules and moved to expel their three colleagues — an extraordinary move that’s been taken only a handful of times since the Civil War.

The move briefly left about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the Tennessee House.

Ultimately, Johnson, who is white, narrowly avoided expulsion while Pearson and Jones were booted by the predominantly white GOP caucus.

House Republican leaders have repeatedly denied that race was a factor in the expulsion hearings. Democrats have disagreed, with Johnson countering that the only reason that she wasn’t expelled was due to her being white.

The expulsions drew national support for the newly dubbed “Tennessee Three,” especially for Pearson and Jones’ campaign fundraising. The two raised more than $2 million combined through about 70,400 campaign donations from across the country. The amount is well beyond the norm for Tennessee’s Republican legislative leaders and virtually unheard of for two freshman Democrats in a superminority.

Meanwhile, more than 15 Republican lawmakers have funneled cash to fund campaign efforts of Jones’ Republican opponent, Laura Nelson. Nelson has raised more than $34,000 for the race. Pearson’s opponent, Jeff Johnston, has raised less than $400 for the contest.

Thursday’s election will also influence two other legislative seats.

In Nashville, community organizer Aftyn Behn and former Metro Councilmember Anthony Davis are currently vying to advance to the general election for a House seat in a district in the city’s northeastern region that opened after Democratic Rep. Bill Beck died in June.

Meanwhile, in eastern Tennessee, Republican Timothy Hill will face Democrat Lori Love in a general election for Republican-leaning District 3. The seat was left empty when former Republican Rep. Scotty Campbell resigned following a finding that he had violated the Legislature’s workplace discrimination and harassment policy.

Hill served in the state House from 2012 until 2020 and rose to the position of majority whip. He later left his seat to run for an open U.S. House seat in 2020, but lost in a crowded primary to current Republican U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger.

A second Tennessee House Democrat has been reinstated after Republicans expelled him for protesting with gun control advocates.

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 Wednesday to reinstate state Rep. Justin Pearson, who days before was expelled by the GOP supermajority for joining protesters ― many of them children ― who chanted in the House chamber in support of gun control following a school shooting that left three kids and three adults dead last month.

Following his reinstatement, a packed crowd inside the County Administration Building erupted in cheers and applause. In a speech following his reinstatement, Pearson said it was time to get back to work.

“You can’t expel our voice, and you sure can’t expel our fight,” he told the crowd.

“Let’s get back to work!” he shouted, to loud cheers.

Pearson and fellow Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones were expelled for protesting on March 30 in the House chamber, which Republican lawmakers called “disorderly behavior” that “brought dishonor to the House of Representatives.” A third lawmaker who joined in protesting for gun control, Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, was spared expulsion by a single vote.

Pearson and Jones are Black; Johnson is white. Both Jones and Johnson joined Pearson in his march Wednesday to the County Administration Building.

“I’m so glad Memphis did what was right,” Johnson told local station WREG after the vote. “I’m just absolutely thrilled.”

“Justice was done today,” she added.

Pearson represents part of Memphis, which is in Shelby County. Mickell Lowery, chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement Sunday that the expulsion of Pearson “was conducted in a hasty manner.”

“The protests at the State Capitol by citizens recently impacted by the senseless deaths of three 9-year-old children and three adults entrusted with their care at their school was understandable given the fact that the gun laws in the State of Tennessee are becoming nearly non-existent,” Lowery said.

“It is equally understandable that the leadership of the State House of Representatives felt a strong message had to be sent to those who transgressed the rules,” Lowery continued. “However, I believe the expulsion of State Representative Justin Pearson was conducted in a hasty manner without consideration of other corrective action methods. I also believe that the ramifications for our great State are still yet to be seen.”

Jones, who represents part of Nashville, was voted back into office on Monday by the Nashville Metropolitan Council in a vote of 36-0. Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) said it was about giving voters their “voice back.”

“Voters in District 52 elected Justin Jones to be their voice at the statehouse, and that voice was taken away this past week,” Cooper said during the meeting to reinstate Jones. “So let’s give them their voice back. I call on this body to vote unanimously, right now, to do just that.”

Along with the two lawmakers being reinstated this week, another surprising victory emerged: On Tuesday, Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order to tighten background checks and called on the state legislature to pass a “red flag” law that would make it easier to remove guns from people who pose a danger to themselves or others.

During his expulsion hearing, Pearson reminded lawmakers that the U.S. was founded on protest.

“You who celebrate July 4, 1776, pop fireworks and eat hot dogs ― you say to protest is wrong because you spoke out of turn, because you spoke up for people who are marginalized, because you spoke up for kids who won’t ever speak again … in a country built on people who speak out of turn,” he said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two former Black Democratic lawmakers who were expelled by Republican colleagues in Tennessee say they want to be reappointed, then elected back to their seats, following their ouster for a protest on the House floor urging passage of gun-control measures in the wake of a deadly school shooting.

Nashville’s metro council is likely to reappoint Justin Jones to the seat during a specially called Monday meeting. Mickell Lowery, the chairman of the Shelby County Commission, said in a statement Sunday that the panel will consider at a meeting Wednesday whether to reappoint Justin Pearson, who is from Memphis, to his seat.

Lowery said he understands the need to respond to those who “transgressed the rules” of the state House of Representatives.

“However, I believe the expulsion of State Representative Justin Pearson was conducted in a hasty manner without consideration of other corrective action methods. I also believe that the ramifications for our great State are still yet to be seen,” he said.

Both former lawmakers told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that they want to return to their positions as lawmakers. Special elections for the seats, which have yet to be set, will follow in the coming months.

The expulsions have made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy. The former lawmakers have quickly drawn prominent supporters. President Joe Biden spoke with them and Vice President Kamala Harris visited them in Nashville.

“You know, we will continue to fight for our constituents,” Jones said. “And one thing I just want to say … is that this attack against us is hurting all people in our state. You know, even though it is disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities, this is hurting poor white people. Their attack on democracy hurts all of us.”

In separate votes on Thursday, the GOP supermajority expelled Jones and Pearson, a move leaving about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the House.

Pearson and Jones were expelled in retaliation for their role in the protest the week before, which unfolded in the aftermath of a school shooting in Nashville that killed six people, including three young students and three adults working at the school. The shooter was killed by police.

A third Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, was spared expulsion by a one-vote margin. Johnson is white, spurring outcry at the differing outcomes for the two young, Black lawmakers. Republican lawmakers who split their votes have cited Johnson’s points on the floor that her role in the protest was lesser — she didn’t speak into the megaphone, for example.

Johnson has also suggested race was likely a factor on why Jones and Pearson were ousted but not her, telling reporters it “might have to do with the color of our skin.”

Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said that’s a “false narrative.”

“It’s unfortunate, she’s trying to put political racism in this, which there was nothing on this,” Sexton told Fox News on Friday.

GOP leaders said the expulsion actions — used only a handful times since the Civil War — were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings through protest would be tolerated.

Pearson said the statehouse has been a “toxic work environment.” He noted the scrutiny he received for wearing a black dashiki — a tunic-like garment that originated in west Africa — for session, rather than a suit and tie.

“It’s about us not belonging in the institution because they are afraid of the changes that are happening in our society, and the voices that are being elevated,” Pearson said on Meet the Press.