Memphis council votes on whether to restore Justin Pearson to his Tennessee House seat

April 12th, 2023

Justin J. Pearson stands with state Rep. Gloria Johnson during a rally in Memphis, Tenn., before a vote to reinstate him to the Tennessee House on April 12, 2023.
Katie Riordan / Katie Riordan

Less than a week after Republicans expelled him from the Tennessee House of Representatives, Justin Pearson could get his lawmaking seat back.

The Shelby County Commission will meet at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. ET) to vote on whether to “reappoint Mr. Justin Pearson to his duly elected position to represent the citizens in District 86,” Mickell Lowery, the commission’s chairman, said as he announced Wednesday’s special meeting.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Pearson said he would lead a march from Memphis’ National Civil Rights Museum to the county commission building. He also pledged to keep fighting to reform gun laws.

Expulsions put a spotlight on race in Tennessee

It’s the latest twist in a political battle that ignited accusations of racism and toxic partisanship: Republican House members, largely white and male, employed a disciplinary tool little used since the 1800s to expel Pearson and another Black Democrat, Rep. Justin Jones, while sparing Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white.

The Republican supermajority voted to punish Pearson and Jones, of Nashville, after they — alongside Johnson of Knoxville — broke procedural rules to lead a protest from the House floor calling for gun law reforms.

When asked about the differing outcomes, Johnson replied, “It might have to do with the color of our skin.”

A simple majority will send Pearson back to the House

Pearson needs approval from a majority of the 13-member commission to return to the legislature on an interim basis. He could then run in a special election to regain the seat until the 2024 vote.

Pearson and Jones were kicked out of the House on April 6. Jones was reinstated to his seat on Monday.

Commission leader says expulsion was hasty

As he announced Wednesday’s special meeting, Lowery said he understood the Republican leadership’s desire to send “a strong message” to Pearson and Jones. But he also said it was a hasty process that brought an “unfortunate” outcome.

The commission meeting is the second time Pearson has faced a vote on his political future in just three months. He won office in January, in a special election to replace state Rep. Barbara Cooper — who won reelection despite dying two weeks before Election Day.

Pearson and Jones now have high profiles

“It is a throwback to our racist past,” political analyst Otis Sanford, a professor at the University of Memphis, said of the expulsion vote, speaking to member station WKNO in Memphis.

But Sanford predicted young people in Tennessee will get more involved with politics in their state. He also says the lawmakers who were singled out could have bright futures.

“On a more positive note, both Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, I think, showed the voters in their districts exactly why they should be reelected,” Sanford said. “But also, it seems like they made themselves look like future political stars nationally.”