NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two former black Democratic lawmakers who were ousted by their Republican colleagues in Tennessee say they want to be reappointed, then re-elected to their seats after their ouster over a floor protest calling for rendition. control measures following a deadly school attack.
The Nashville Metro Council is likely to appoint Justin Jones to the seat during a special meeting on Monday. Mickell Lowery, chairman of the Shelby County Commission, said in a statement Sunday that the commission 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 hold back those who “broke the rules” of the state House of Representatives.
“However, I believe the removal of State Representative Justin Pearson was rushed without consideration of other methods of corrective action. I also think the consequences for our great state are yet to be seen,” he said.
Both former lawmakers said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that they want to return to their positions as lawmakers. In the coming months there will be special elections for seats that have not yet been determined.
The expulsions have made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy. The former MPs quickly attracted prominent supporters. President Joe Biden spoke with them and Vice President Kamala Harris visited them in Nashville.
“You know, we’re going to continue to fight for our constituents,” Jones said. “And one thing I want to say … is that this attack on us hurts all the people in our state. You know, even though it disproportionately impacts black and brown communities, it hurts poor white people. Their attack on democracy hurts us all.”
In separate ballots Thursday, an overall GOP majority ousted Jones and Pearson, a move that left about 140,000 voters in predominantly black districts in Nashville and Memphis without representation in the House.
Pearson and Jones were expelled in retaliation for their roles in the previous week’s protest following 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 police.
A third Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, was spared expulsion by a one-vote margin. Johnson is white, which has sparked protests over the disparate results of the two young black lawmakers. Republican lawmakers who split their votes disputed Johnson’s points that his role in the protest was minor: for example, he did not speak through a megaphone.
Johnson also suggested that race was likely a factor in why Jones and Pearson were removed, but not her, telling reporters that “it might have something to do with the color of our skin.”
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said it was a “false narrative.”
“It’s a shame, he’s trying to put political racism into it, which there was nothing for,” Sexton told Fox News on Friday.
GOP leaders said impeachment — used only a handful of times since the civil war — was necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers who disrupt House proceedings with protests would be tolerated.
Pearson said the state is a “toxic work environment.” He noted the check he received for wearing a black dashiki – a tunic-like garment originating in West Africa – for the session rather than a suit and tie.
“It’s about us not being in the establishment because they’re afraid of the changes that are happening in our society and the voices that are being raised,” Pearson said on Meet the Press.
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