Rep. Gloria Johnson – Memphis Flyer

Back in April of 2023, state Representative Gloria Johnson of Knoxville got to be a known quantity, not only statewide but to the nation at large, as a member of the “Tennessee Three,” the trio of Democratic legislators whose zeal for gun reform made them targets for expulsion by the GOP House supermajority.

She survived the expulsion vote, as her cohorts did not, either because — as some believe — they were African-American and she was not or — as the Republican whose dissenting vote saved her maintained — because she differed from them in not having challenged the “decorum” of the House quite as seriously.

Whatever the reality, Johnson fully shared the outrage of fellow protesters Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville at Republican inaction following a lethal shooting rampage at Nashville’s Covenant School. And the lesser degree of her martyrdom would give her at least a measure of the national recognition earned by the two Justins, both of whom were immediately returned to office by their local legislative bodies.

The publicity generated by the expulsion incident doubtless was a factor in Johnson’s subsequent decision to seek the U.S. Senate seat currently held by the arch-conservative Republican Marsha Blackburn. But long before the bump in her statewide name recognition, the veteran legislator had earned respect in the House for her unstinting dedication to progressive principles.

Over the years, Johnson, a Knoxville special education teacher, had frequently gotten under the skin of Republican leaders, to the point that they had managed to reapportion her out of her seat, leaving her residence six blocks out of her home district. Undeterred, she sat out a session, moved, and was re-elected from a new, adjacent district.

Johnson’s campaign for the Senate brought her to Memphis over the Memorial Day weekend, and at one of her stops, a Saturday meet-and-greet affair at The Broom Closet on South Main, she undertook to explain both her own mission and the failings of Senator Blackburn, whom she accused of being dishonest and a “fearmonger” in the senator’s speeches, press releases, and frequent blog postings in which Blackburn accuses Democrats of a multitude of sins, up to and including disloyalty.

“Instead of focusing on hate and division,” Johnson said, “we need to be focusing on bringing people together, keeping people healthy and educated and earning a living wage, with access to things like paid family leave and childcare infrastructure.”

As an example of the incumbent’s dishonesty, Johnson recalled having seen a video in which “Marsha Blackburn actually said that we’re in a cooling period, that here’s no such thing as global warming. She said that back when she ran in 2018. Bless her heart, science is real. Just to let y’all know, I believe in science and research and data and use it daily. Yes.”

Johnson, who is simultaneously running for re-election to her state House seat, included the GOP legislative supermajority in the General Assembly in her criticism, notably, for their refusal to accept Medicaid expansion.

“Literally, Tennesseans are dying, while we refuse to expand Medicaid. And, you know, it is fair to say that their policies are certainly putting women and girls at risk. They’re putting the LGBTQ community at risk.”

She cited a recent Vanderbilt University poll which, she said, showed state voters favoring “not only medical cannabis, but recreational cannabis. They favor Medicaid expansion. Protecting the public schools. Things like universal background checks and [gun] safe storage, and extreme risk-protection orders or red flag laws.”

The same poll, she said, had her edging out Blackburn with women voters, 49 percent to 43 percent, and close behind the incumbent with other demographic groups.

(It should be noted that the prospect of Johnson’s doing well in a general election race depends, of course, on her winning out in the August Democratic primary, where she is opposed by Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis, who derailed the senatorial hopes of Nashville’s James Mackler by upsetting him in the primary in 2018. Bradshaw was easily beaten in that year’s general election by Republican Bill Hagerty.)

The white-majority, GOP-dominated Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two Black lawmakers Thursday (but kept one white lawmaker on the same offenses) as the country looked on.

The Memphis Flyer will capture as many reactions to the news here as we can. This thread will be updated as reactions come in throughout the day.

Reverend Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network:

“The Tennessee House’s decision to remove two Black legislators who exercised their right to free speech was a plain and simple attack on our democracy. How can you remove these lawmakers, who spoke for thousands of Black Tennesseans living under the threat of gun violence every day, but stop short of removing their white colleague and deny this is a racist action? The National Action Network stands with our Nashville Chapter in supporting their fundamental right to protest, especially against the gun violence that consistently and persistently impacts Black communities.”

JB Smiley, Memphis City Council member

“The Shelby County Commission must immediately return Representative Justin J. Pearson to the Tennessee General Assembly. This is a sad day for Tennessee. The Republican super majority in the Tennessee General Assembly has put its knee on the neck of democracy in this state and in this country. I hope people will hold the dishonorable representatives who voted to expel Representative Pearson accountable for their actions and recognize that they have a total disregard for the thousands of constituents affected by such actions.”

Joint statement by Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Votes; Tequila Johnson, executive director, Equity Alliance Action Fund; and Tikeila Rucker, political organizer, MemphisForAll:

“The power of our democracy is that the people choose our leaders to represent us, not the other way around. Our communities came together to elect Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin J. Pearson because they are bold, progressive champions and we knew they would fight to make sure our families have opportunities to thrive. We knocked on thousands of doors, called voters across the state, and elected leaders that listened to our voices and represented our communities.

“But in the face of the growing political power of Black and brown communities, the power-hungry supermajority is doing everything they can to silence our voices and disenfranchise our communities, including ousting two young black men who were duly elected. Expelling Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson is an unprecedented power grab that directly undermines our democracy, but it isn’t their first attack. They redrew congressional maps to break up Nashville to dilute the growing power of black and brown communities. They shrunk the size of the Nashville metro council from 40 to 20 members, forcing the city to redraw districts, eliminating leaders that represent our communities and throwing the city into political chaos. They’re coming after local authority in every city that dares challenge them. All of these attacks are tied together. They saw our power, and they’re doing everything they can to stop it.

“And let us not forget what started all of this: the House GOP’s refusal to take action to protect our children from gun violence in the wake of the terrible tragedy at the Covenant School last week. They want to distract and divide us with political stunts instead of focusing on making our schools safe.

“But we aren’t backing down. We are registering voters and organizing our communities to turn out for every election and elect leaders that will build a state that works for all of us. Just like we came together to elect Representatives Jones and Pearson the first time, we will keep showing up to elect champions, hold our government accountable, and pass policies that help our families thrive and keep our children safe. Tennessee is on the front lines of defending our democracy in this country. For years our movements have been fighting to defend and build a truly multiracial and pluralistic democracy in our state — and we won’t give up now.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen:

“As a longtime state Senator and current member of Congress, I appreciate that certain rules of decorum are necessary for conducting the people’s business in our state legislature. But I view the expulsion votes today as a provocative and disproportionate response to the breach of House rules prompted by the emotions triggered by last week’s Covenant School shooting.

“I was pleased to see the effort to expel Representative Johnson fail. I wish cooler heads would have prevailed and prevented the disenfranchisement of the citizens of Memphis and Nashville the expulsions create, in addition to the special expense state taxpayers will now have in scheduling primary and general elections. Debate on the proper response to gun violence is an essential part of the democratic process. Today’s votes were an embarrassing stain on an important democratic institution.”

The Black Southern Women Collaborative:

“The expulsion of Black legislators is an unacceptable travesty that should not be tolerated in a democracy. Black people from Memphis and Nashville now have no representative in the House of Representatives. This comes at a time when one in five Black people in Tennessee cannot vote due to felony disenfranchisement. Most of the folks are in Memphis. Additionally, Tennessee voters are being purged from the voting rolls and most of the impacted people are in Memphis and most are Black.

“Jones and Pearson were willing to enact the will of the communities that elected them, and now they have been removed. There can be no confusion; this is not only an attack on democracy, but also an attack on Black people.

“Justin Pearson is an activist and organizer who worked to oppose an oil pipeline in his community. He is concerned not only about the environment, but gun violence; issues of concern to his constituents.

“The other irony in all of this is that three legislators protested the death of innocent babies who were killed at the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, yet only the Black legislators were removed. The racial inequity in this process is brazen.”

Amber Sherman and the Black Caucus of the Tennessee young Democrats have issued a petition to send Pearson back to the House:

“Justin J. Pearson was unjustly expelled from the TN State House on April 6th. His constituents deserve representation, send him back to the state House!”