Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson, a prominent gun control advocate and member of the “Tennessee Three,” announced her bid for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Marsha Blackburn on Tuesday. Johnson and two other state representatives gained notoriety after they were disciplined earlier this year for leading protesters onto the floor of the Tennessee House following a deadly mass shooting at an elementary school. Johnson announced her run at a rally outside the Knoxville high school at which she used to teach, itself the site of a 2008 school shooting that left one student dead. “We have got to do better, we can do better, and Tennesseans deserve better,” Johnson told a congregation of supporters outside the school. “We have got to do something, and well, this is the something I decided to do.” In her speech, Johnson called for increased access to affordable healthcare, greater union involvement and lower taxes for working families in the state.
