Expelled Tennessee lawmakers both seeking seats again

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two former Black Democratic lawmakers who were expelled by Republican colleagues in Tennessee say they want to be reappointed, then elected back to their seats, following their ouster for a protest on the House floor urging passage of gun-control measures in the wake of a deadly school shooting. Their attack on democracy hurts all of us.” In separate votes on Thursday, the GOP supermajority expelled Jones and Pearson, a move leaving about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the House. Johnson has also suggested race was likely a factor on why Jones and Pearson were ousted but not her, telling reporters it “might have to do with the color of our skin.” Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said that’s a “false narrative.” “It’s unfortunate, she’s trying to put political racism in this, which there was nothing on this,” Sexton told Fox News on Friday. GOP leaders said the expulsion actions — used only a handful times since the Civil War — were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings through protest would be tolerated.