Nashville's Metro Council is meeting to consider reappointing Rep. Justin Jones to his seat in the Tennessee House, days after he was expelled from the chamber for participating in an earlier protest against gun violence.
A Republican supermajority consisting of two-thirds of the Tennessee House voted last Thursday to expel Jones and fellow Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson, who are both Black. Another Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson, who also participated in the protest, survived the vote and was not expelled.
Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville gestures during a vote on his expulsion from the state legislature at the State Capitol Building on April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Metro Council, the legislative body tasked with appointing a replacement, called a special meeting last week to fill the vacancy. Several Metro council members toldthat they want to appoint Jones to return to his seat in the state legislature.
"He is duly elected by the community, we have to uphold their wishes, and I 100% believe our body will vote to put my representative back in office," Porterfield said.by the Shelby County Commission, which is set to vote in a meeting then. The Tennessee House moved to expel Jones, Pearson and Johnson after the three participated in a protest on March 30 in the state Capitol for stricter gun laws in the wake of aLawmakers said Johnson was spared the same fate as Jones and Pearson because she did not take a bullhorn and address the crowd, among other reasons. But Johnson, who is White, said she survived the vote because she is a"60-year-old White woman and they are two young Black men.
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