Tennessee lawmakers expelled for gun protests victorious in special primary elections

Two Tennessee state lawmakers who were expelled from the state legislature earlier this year for protesting gun violence on the House floor easily won their special primary elections on Thursday.

State Rep. Justin Jones ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in his Nashville-area district, while state Rep. Justin Pearson sailed to victory over challenger David Page in the Democratic special primary for his Memphis-area district.

Pearson garnered more than 94 percent of the votes, according to Decision Desk HQ.

“The first wave of votes are in and WE WON!!!” Pearson tweeted. “We are now officially the Democratic candidate for the General Election in District 86!! #PeoplePower did this!! Let’s keep going!!!”

The Tennessee House of Representatives, which is controlled by a Republican supermajority, voted to expel Jones and Pearson from the chamber in early April. 

The pair and a third Democratic lawmaker, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, led chants from the House floor, after protesters descended on the Tennessee Capitol to call for action in the wake of a shooting at a Nashville elementary school that left three 9-year-old students and three adults dead.

Notably, the two expelled lawmakers are Black, while Johnson, who narrowly survived her own expulsion vote, is white.

“What we saw in Tennessee yesterday was an attack on democracy and very overt racism, as you can see that the two youngest Black lawmakers were kicked out, but our colleague, my dear sister, Gloria Johnson, a white woman, was not,” Jones said at the time.

Both Jones and Pearson were reinstated by local officials in their respective districts. However, they are currently serving on an interim basis until the special general election, which is set to be held in early August. 

Jones will face off against Republican Laura Nelson, who similarly ran unopposed in the Republican special primary, while Pearson will take on Independent Jeff Johnston.

The trio, which was dubbed the “Tennessee Three,” met with President Biden at the White House in the wake of the expulsion votes.

“What the Republican legislature did was shocking. It was undemocratic,” Biden said at the time, adding, “You’re standing up for our kids, you’re standing up for our communities.”