Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones have reclaimed their legislative seats after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor.
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    9•1 year ago

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    The young Black lawmakers were reinstated by local officials after being booted from the GOP-dominated Statehouse, but only on an interim basis.

    Thursday’s election came as lawmakers are preparing to return to Nashville later this month for a special session to address possibly changing the state’s gun control laws.

    While Jones and Pearson’s reelection to their old posts won’t make a significant dent to the Republican supermajority inside the Legislature, they are expected to push back heavily against some of their GOP colleagues’ policies.

    It wasn’t until this spring that their political careers received a boost when they joined fellow Democrat Rep. Gloria Johnson in a protest for more gun control on the House floor.

    The demonstration took place just days after a fatal shooting in Nashville at a private Christian school where a shooter killed three children and three adults.

    The move briefly left about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the Tennessee House.

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