Tennessee’s Justin Jones and Justin Pearson Win Back Their Seats After Expulsion
The House GOP supermajority expelled the two Black Democrats after they led a protest against gun violence in April following a mass elementary school shooting.
Republicans voted to expel Jones and Pearson, but spared Johnson, a white woman, for the same supposed offense. The pair were reinstated on an interim basis by local authorities who are responsible for filling the seats in such an event (no rules say they can’t put the same people back in the position). Winning Tuesday night’s special election was critical to finish their two-year terms.
“Well, Mr. Speaker, the People have spoken,” Jones tweeted on Thursday night. “The FIND OUT era of politics is just beginning. See you August 21st for special session.”
Jones first won his seat representing the Nashville area with no Republican opponent in 2022, but defeated Republican Laura Nelson on Tuesday, per CNN. Pearson also faced no Republican opponent when he won his Memphis-area seat and defeated independent Jeff Johnston on Tuesday, per the network.
Pearson thanked his supporters and called out his detractors early on Friday morning. “Sunday always comes! @tnhousegop@TNGOP You can’t expel a Movement! You can’t expel Hope! Resurrection is a promised prophecy to a persecuted people! Thank you District 86 and our Movement for your votes, love, prayer, and support! We did it!!!!!” he tweeted.
The move by the Republican supermajority sparked national outrage. As the AP reported, only two lawmakers have been expelled from the legislative body since the Civil War. The fact that the two this time were Black, while the spared woman was white, was not lost on the public.
The two men were accused of going to the podium without being officially recognized to speak. They led student protesters in the galleries via bullhorn as the crowds chanted, “Gun reform now”—which feels like a pretty reasonable and inherently democratic thing to do after yet another mass school shooting.
At the time, state House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) said the actions were “maybe worse” than the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who tried to overturn the 2020 election by violently storming the U.S. Capitol and scrawling “murder the media” on its doors. “They were not recognized,” Sexton complained. “I started speaking, and they pulled out a bullhorn and started making a protest on the House floor.”
Yes, that was the terrible thing that happened that week. Not multiple people being shot to death in a school!
The Tennessee House remains a Republican supermajority, but at least the will of the voters who originally sent Pearson and Jones to the statehouse will be honored. Twice.
