Expelled Tennessee lawmakers seek seats again

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two former black Democratic lawmakers who were ousted by fellow Republicans in Tennessee they say they want to be re-elected, then re-elected to their seats, after being ousted by a protest on the floor of the Chamber urging approval of arms control measures in the wake of a deadly school shooting.

The Nashville metropolitan council is likely to reappoint Justin Jones to the position during a specially convened meeting Monday. Mickell Lowery, 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 position.

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

“However, I believe that the removal of State Representative Justin Pearson was carried out in a hasty manner without considering other methods of corrective action. I also believe that the ramifications of our great State remain to be seen,” he said.

Both former lawmakers told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that they want to return to their posts as lawmakers. Special elections for the seats, which have not yet been set, will follow in the coming months.

The evictions have made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy. The former lawmakers have quickly attracted prominent supporters. President Joe Biden talked to 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 on us is hurting every person in our state. You know, even though it’s disproportionately affecting Black and Latino communities, this is hurting poor whites. His attack on democracy hurts us all.”

In separate votes Thursday, the overwhelming majority of Republicans ousted Jones and Pearson, a move that left about 140,000 voters in mainly black districts in Nashville and Memphis without representation in the House.

Pearson and Jones were expelled in retaliation for their role in the previous week’s protest, which unfolded after a school shooting in Nashville that killed six people, including three young students and three adults who worked at the school. . The shooter was killed by the police.

A third Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, was spared ouster by a one-vote margin. Johnson is white, prompting protests over the different outcomes for the two young black lawmakers. Republican lawmakers who split her votes cited Johnson’s points on the floor that her role in the protest was minor: She didn’t speak into the megaphone, for example.

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

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, called that a “false narrative.”

“It’s unfortunate, she’s trying to put political racism into it, that there was nothing to it,” Sexton said. foxnews on Friday.

Republican leaders said the removal actions, used only a few times since the Civil War, were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that disruptions of House proceedings by lawmakers through protests would be tolerated. .

Pearson said the state chamber has been a “toxic work environment.” He pointed to the scrutiny he received for wearing a black dashiki, a robe-like garment that originated in West Africa, to the shoot, instead of a suit and tie.

“This is about us not belonging to the institution because they are afraid of the changes that are happening in our society and the voices that are being raised,” Pearson said on Meet the Press.