2 Tennessee Democrats Are Expelled From Office & 1 Is Spared: Was It All Worth It?
Image Credit: Charlie Kirk / Twitter, capitol.tn.gov & votejustinj.com
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
Yesterday, after a nearly 11-hour session on the Tennessee state House Floor, two Democrats, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled from their seats as representatives of their districts, and only Gloria Johnson (D-D90-Knoxville) remained.
The portion of the House Floor Session which occurred during the Unfinished Business began with a 7-minute video of the events of March 30th, when Jones, Johnson and Pearson made their way up to the Well at the front of the House Floor and began to lead the activists gathered in the gallery in chants in protest of gun violence and a call for stricter gun control laws in the state.
Both Jones and Johnson were removed from their committee appointments by Tuesday. Pearson was not serving on any committees.
Yesterday, after well over two hours of testimony from Jones, and questions and answers from members of the House Body, Justin Jones in a vote of 72 Ayes to 25 Nays was removed from his seat in the Tennessee State House of Representatives.
Next, was Gloria Johnson’s turn to be held accountable for the events that took place on March 30th. Johnson defended herself with arguments that were rooted in her experience in a school shooting several years before in her role as a teacher, as well as her careful distinction of the actions she is proven to have committed versus that of her colleagues.
Johnson was careful to point out that while she did move to the Well without being recognized, the resolution indicated that the actions for which she and her colleagues were being expelled were not those that were committed by herself, but only Jones and Pearson. After an emotional testimony and a very stringent question and answer session with Republicans in the house, a vote was taken and she was spared by just one vote in her favor, with the Ayes at 65, and the Nays at 30.
Finally, Justin Pearson had his turn to be heard and try to explain his motivation for why he chose to act as he did that day and convey whether the actions were justified. Much of what Pearson based the justification for his actions on was that he was too new to the legislature to really understand that he was breaking the rules of procedure to such a degree, and if he did break them it was in order to represent his constituents who sent him there. Pearson stated that his constituents want more aggressive gun controls laws so tragedies like those of last week at Covenant Christian School can be prevented.
After another extensive question and answer period and several other members of the Democrat Party in the House making supportive statements on his behalf, Pearson was removed from his seat with a vote of 69 Ayes and 26 Noes.
Each district will have their own process for how they will replace each of the Representatives, either through a special election, or a placement through their respective county commission.
A tweet from Mayor John Cooper indicates that Nashville City Council will likely send Justin Jones back to his seat, and sources in Memphis indicated that Pearson is also meeting with attorneys in an attempt to restore him to his former seat as well.
So, after all the upheaval of the past week, the so-called Tennessee 3 will very possibly be back where they started and with a license to behave however they like due to House Rules stating that no member can be expelled twice for the same violation.
The Tennessee Conservative will continue to follow the story and provide updates as they appear.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
So why did Haston not vote?
The funeral for Haston’s grandfather was yesterday. In the beginning of the House session yesterday, he announced that. He was excused.
All Sexton had to do was to file a motion for censure instead of expulsion and he would have looked like a hero. Instead, you had Jones up there beating the House like a pinata. You now have 2 black Dems who were expelled, with the one white Dem that survived the vote. The 2 Justin’s will now be nationally recognized and none of them will ever have trouble raising campaign funds. Since the General Assembly has declared war on Metro Nashville, I expect Jones back in the House next week. Shelby County will send Pearson back, as well.
So to summarize, you expel 2 black Democrats who were assuredly going to be reappointed and/or win the special election to win their seat. You’ve made them famous and made Gloria Johnson unbeatable in her district. To top it all off, Democrats are going to be fired up in 2024 over this. No, it wasn’t worth any of it. I’ve never seen a worse political decision.
Just remember, Sexton had the power to censure and he chose not to do it.
“declared war on Metro Nashville”
LOL. Enjoy your SECOND TITANS STADIUM AND MAJOR LEAUGE SOCCER AND TOLL ROADS.
Maybe Coop will reinstitute his $50 mask fines so you can return to the good old days.
Michael, you centrist/tepid conservative Republicans are a most nervous lot. Indeed, all three should have been treated the same but that didn’t happen because of your fellow nervous centrist/tepid conservative Republicans like Sam Whitson (Williamson County). The two Justins won’t be recognized anywhere other than in the fever swamps of the left 2 hours after the newscasts were broadcast and you don’t need a lot of money as an incumbent to keep your seat in the General Assembly. As for their coming back, that’s OK so long as they behave themselves like normal civilized representatives sitting in a democratic legislature. Point made.
So to summarize, to let these three continue to sit in the House with nothing but a slap on the wrist in form of a censure is simply to invite further misconduct and was too weak wristed even for our normally weak wristed Republicans in the General Assembly. Instead, the Republicans acted imperfectly, only expelling two, but they acted so chalk one up for the good guys. Otherwise we have a big fat nothingburger so please calm down Michael.
You do realize they cannot be expelled again for the same offense, right? House rules. So now, when they get back there, they can come down to the well anytime they want and Sexton can’t do a thing about it.
This accomplished nothing except bringing major negative attention to Tennessee and firing up Democrats. The unexpected move would have been for Sexton to push censure. That would have taken away all of their arguments. Instead, they expel the 2 black Dems and keep the white lady and now they are in a major bind…all of their own doing.
So in other words your reading of the rules makes you think that because they were expelled once for misconduct and interrupting the proceedings when they return they can bring a tent and decide to camp out in the well of the House preventing the House from doing business and nothing can be done about it because they were expelled once for the same sort of thing. What an absurd result! So absurd in fact that I doubt you are correct. If you are correct the Republican Super Majority will change those rules real fast now that the Democrats are sending leftist insurrectionists to the House.
The offence occurred on March 31, 2023, that is the offense they can not expelled for That offense. It does not give them license to do it again in the future and not be charged and ejected .
Your response would embolden them. It’s what Republicans have done and it doesn’t work. Expelling them was the right thing to do. Whitson voted No for the woman and she called his a racist because she’s White.
IF they get back in it will be proof that only people in government can break the rules and not be punished. AS for COPPER just one more DEMOCRAT sticking up for another DEMOCRAT. IT seems every where DEMOCRATS are ABOUVE THE LAW
Ouch. We shot ourselves in the foot here. Yes, they broke parliamentary procedure, but the whole world now confirms it’s opinion of Tennesseeans as racist hicks. It’s not true, but the perception will hurt us financially and in future opportunities. Suppression of dissent is not who we are. I’m frankly ashamed.
CG, what in your psychological makeup makes you so anxious to please “the whole world” when “the whole world” is made up leftist authoritarians and Cultural Marxists. Of course, the real world is made up of all kinds of people the wisest of whom ignore the mainstream media driven “whole world” and recognize that no elected body can sanction any group from commandeering its proceeding no matter the race or ethnicity of those involved.
Pearson’s district literally reelected a dead person. That’s the only reason he was here. Neither he nor Jones had sponsored or cosponsored any legislation moving towards the ends they espouse. IF the unconstitutional move of removing the law abiding citizens’ ability to keep and bear arms was the demand of their districts, neither one of them appeared to be working on it. Or anything else for that matter.
Williamson County has one of the most liberal Republicans representing the western portion of the county, Sam Whitson (ACU-78%). Unsurprisingly Sam refused to vote either for or against the expulsion of Jones or Pearson and actually voted AGAINST the expulsion of Johnson. Is there no conservative in the 65th District who wants to be a state representative who will run in the Republican primary to rid us of this tepid conservative representative?
Expelling two blacks and keeping a white woman is going to haunt us for a very looooonng time. They should have been punished, not expelled.
The radical lady from Knoxville should have been expelled too. Now we all look like racists because one Republican did not have the guts to do what they should have done.
But that is so typical of Tennessee Republicans!
She called Whitson a racist for voting to not expel her.
While driving, I listened to the live proceedings broadcast on local radio from the House chambers for as long as I could stomach it and until it became dangerous to continue to beat on my steering wheel.
What a sh** show! The questioning of Johnson was horrific and, by any objective measure, positively sophomoric. The representative questioning Johnson allowed her to not only refute the yes/no questions; but then to opine about her “feelings”, her “commitment”, her need to support her “colleagues” and other assorted dribble. And, like every avowed Marxist/Leftist on the planet, she repeated the Democrat Mantra: “I did it for the children; your children and grandchildren.” In other words, unlike you Republicans, my goals are superior to rules and laws; therefore the ends justify the means.
Republicans! Wake up, grow a pair. If recent history has shown you anything it should be a clear understanding of what would transpire were the situation reversed. It is clear to this voter that you still don’t recognize your enemy. And get someone who has advanced beyond a ninth grade debate class to carry the prosecutorial flag!
Finally, I don’t agree with the other posts here that say these leftists should only be censured and removed from Committees rather than expelled. They participated in an “insurrection” as clearly defined, communicated, and prosecuted by the Democrats against Americans vis a vis January 6. A lot of innocent people did a lot less than these three and their lives have been and are being systematically destroyed.
Who cares. The race card will be played no matter what you do. If your right. You’re a racist. If you make a mistake. Your a racist. If you lower taxes. Your a racist. If you make a budget. Your a racist. If you give money away. Your a racist. Be nice to a lib. Your a racist. Compromise with a lib. Your a racist. Take the high road. Your a racist.
Well said Terry.
If we do not land hard on these losers, they will continue to run all over the rule of law. Enough. Sexton did the right thing drawing a line in the sand. It is us vs them. The trans agenda is well documented and another was plotting to murder more innocent people. We are a star and nation of laws. Stop being a wimp.
Gloria Should be GONE also. Now the RACE card will be pulled out!!
Johnson tried to save herself & threw the other two under the bus by saying ” the actions for which she and her colleagues were being expelled were not those that were committed by herself, but only Jones and Pearson.” After the expulsion session she was one of the 1st to come out saying it’s all racist. Do the black Democrats expelled and those from Knox, Davidson and Shelby counties not see what a scam she played on them? If she is so concerned that the Tennessee House is full of racists why doesn’t she resign?
What about the sodomite Lt Governor. Hall pass?
He’s part of the Pfake Pfizer Contingent. As is Gloria. They are rewarded for their loyalty to their benefactors.
https://www.wate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2021/07/Tennessee-Senate-GOP-Letter-urging-vaccines.pdf
Well, if they had expelled Johnson too, then the D’s would simply include misogyny along with the cries of racism. If the situation was reversed and the D’s (heaven forbid) were in charge of the House, then what do you think would happen? Look at what happened to the Jan 6 protesters? And MTG getting kicked off her committees by Pelosi? We are at a political divide and we need to be as strong as our opponents. The key is what will our side do about gun control? Lee has already gone squishy with red flag laws. And Sexton is busy pursuing young men on the internet. We must tighten ranks and police our own members.