Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson will return to his seat in the state’s House of Representatives after a majority of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted to reappoint him Wednesday. The final vote was a unanimous 7-0.
He was joined by a crowd of over 500 supporters, who marched from the Memphis Civil Rights Museum to the Shelby County meeting alongside Pearson.
The 29-year-old gave an impassioned speech following the vote, celebrating his reappointment in front of droves of supporters.
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“The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us,” Pearson said. “You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel justice. You can’t expel our voice. And you sure can’t expel our fight.”
Pearson was expelled alongside Democrat Rep. Justin Jones for their participation in a March 30 protest for gun reform on the House floor. Pearson and Jones, who are both Black, were voted out of their elected positions by the Republican-led House while Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, retained her seat despite protesting alongside them.
“Their allegiance is to the way that things are. Their allegiance is to business as usual,” Pearson said, in reference to his Republican peers who voted to remove him. “What we did was say we have an allegiance to the people, people who are tired of business as usual.”
According to the Tennessee State Constitution, the legislative body of an expelled lawmaker’s county can appoint an interim representative until a special election can be held. Pearson will be allowed to run for re-election following his interim appointment. Lawmakers can’t be expelled twice for the same offense.
In order to appoint Pearson back to his seat as quickly as possible, the Shelby County commissioners voted without objection to suspend the rules requiring a four-week wait before appointing an interim representative.
Pearson and Jones’ expulsions last week garnered national headlines and attention from Democratic leaders around the country. In a press release issued shortly after his reappointment, Pearson thanked those who advocated on his behalf.
“I’m so humbled and grateful to once again represent District 86. Thank you to those who rallied, marched, wrote letters, posted on social media and prayed for this moment. I thank the members of the Shelby County Commission for their courage to do what is right,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and other Democrats called for the Department of Justice to investigate Tennessee Republicans.
“We are deeply concerned that without immediate action by the U.S. Department of Justice, antidemocratic actors will only be emboldened, and we will see more troubling and more frequent incidents meant to unravel our democratic fabric,” the senators wrote in their letter to the DOJ.
Now, both expelled lawmakers are back in Tennessee’s House. The Nashville Metropolitan Council unanimously voted to reappoint Jones on Monday.
