Expelled Tennessee lawmakers say they will run again in special election

The two Tennessee lawmakers expelled from their seats after joining a gun reform protest in the statehouse have vowed to run again when special elections are called.

Former state Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson joined protesters at the state capitol two weeks ago in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school.

The Democrats, who are Black, and one white colleague became known as the “Tennessee Three” after Republican lawmakers mulled whether to expell them as punishment.

Resolutions expelling Mr Jones and Mr Pearson were passed on Thursday.

The white lawmaker, Gloria Johnson, was not expelled from the chamber. Republicans cited her supposedly lesser involvement in the demonstration but the disparity was widely condemned by Democrats on social media, including former President Barack Obama.

Mr Pearson and Mr Jones appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday to discuss the possibility of being reappointed to their seats and running in a special election to finish the remainder of their terms.

The two could be reappointed by their respective county governments, the Nashville Metropolitan Council for Mr Jones, and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners for Mr Pearson.

“I would be honoured” to be reappointed to the seat, Mr Pearson told NBC.

Both lawmakers agreed that they would accept reappointments should they be extended, and would also run for the seat again once special elections were formally declared.

Politico reported on Sunday that Mr Pearson is likely to be reappointed by a vote from the Shelby Board of Commissioners in the coming days.

Mr Jones is also understood to be Nashville Metropolitan Council’s top choice for an appointment to his old seat, according to the Associated Press.

State law requires that the local boards appoint individuals to hold the seats in question until a special election is held to determine who will serve the remainder of an ousted lawmaker’s two-year term.

Rep. Gloria Johnson said in a CNN interview last week that she believed her political survival was due to the colour of her skin.

“I think [the reason is] pretty clear. I’m a 60-year-old white woman and they are two young Black men,” she said.

Mr Pearson said on Sunday that he had heard rumours alleging that Republicans in the statehouse were “threatening” members of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in an effort to prevent his reappointment.

“I’ve already heard that people in the state legislature and in Nashville are actually threatening our Shelby County commissioners to not reappoint me, or they’re gonna take away funding in the governor’s budget for projects that the mayor and others have asked for,” said Mr Pearson.

“This is what folks really have to realize. The power structure in the state of Tennessee is always wielded against the minority party and people,” he continued.

However Nashville’s mayor John Cooper tweeted that he was “confident” that the board would vote to reappoint the ousted Democratic lawmaker.

Should Mr Jones and Mr Pearson be readmitted, Tennessee state law states hat they cannot be punished by the legislature again for the same offence.

The three lawmakers met with Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to Fisk University, a historically-Black college in Nashville, this past week. They also spoke with President Joe Biden on Friday.

“Our country needs to take action on gun violence — to do that we need more voices like theirs speaking out,” President Biden tweeted, accompanied by a photo of their video call.