Tennessee Republicans punished two Democratic lawmakers who interrupted statehouse proceedings by joining protesters calling for gun control after a mass killing last week, voting Thursday to expel them from the state House of Representatives.
Filling the vacant seats falls to local officials. In both Nashville and Memphis, officials on Friday signaled plans to vote next week, and at least some in each area planned to vote in favor of giving Jones and Pearson their seats back.
In a historic demonstration of partisan retaliation, the Republican-led chamber kicked out Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis 10 days after three children and three adults were shot to death in a Nashville elementary school. Republicans said the lawmakers had breached the chamber’s rules and decorum.
The expulsions fit into a broader effort by Republicans in some statehouses to expand their power, experts told The Washington Post. The vote also exhibited racial overtones: The chamber voted on whether to expel three Democrats who joined the protest, but only kicked out Jones, who is of Black and Filipino descent, and Pearson, who is Black. Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, who is White, was allowed to keep her seat by a single vote.
Here’s what we know about what happens next.
