House votes to expel Justin Jones, Justin Pearson; Rep. Gloria Johnson survives

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - UPDATE: Justin Jones has been appointed to fill the District 52 seat until a special election is held. The seat became vacant when Jones was expelled April 6.

Tennessee lawmakers voted Thursday to expel two Democratic lawmakers from the state House.

State Representatives Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and Justin Jones, D-Nashville, are now being referred to as “The Tennessee Three.” Jones and Pearson were expelled following a special vote on Thursday. Johnson narrowly survived the vote for her expulsion.

Tennessee Democratic Party condemned the vote to expel Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson on Thursday, releasing this statement:

Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and other Tennessee Republican lawmakers spoke after the special session and explained what led to the resolutions.

After the conclusion of the regular agenda on Thursday, Speaker Sexton called the House legislature into a special session to consider the resolutions to expel Jones, Pearson, and Johnson.

The resolution to remove Jones began at 1:55 p.m. and the young representative of Nashville began by reiterating his desire for gun reform in the state of Tennessee and explained how too many people are dying from gun violence, not just the six from the Covenant School shooting.

Jones then switched gears to the expulsion vote and reminded the chamber of how rare a vote of that nature is in the state. He also referenced a fellow colleague who kept his House seat despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Jones was referring to former Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro.

Over the next hour, several Democratic representatives argued on behalf of Jones and urged House members to not vote for expulsion, while Republican Rep. Sabi Kumar recommended that Jones not focus so much on race, but rather on achievements.

The vote was held just after 3:30 p.m., with the House voting 72-25 to adopt the motion to expel Jones. Here is how the votes came in:

• Ayes - Alexander, Barrett, Boyd, Bricken, Bulso, Burkhart, Butler, Campbell S, Capley, Carr, Carringer, Cepicky, Cochran, Crawford, Darby, Davis, Doggett, Eldridge, Faison, Farmer, Fritts, Gant, Garrett, Gillespie, Grills, Hale, Hawk, Hazlewood, Helton-Haynes, Hicks G, Hicks T, Holsclaw, Howell, Hulsey, Hurt, Johnson C, Keisling, Kumar, Lafferty, Lamberth, Leatherwood, Littleton, Lynn, Marsh, Martin B, Martin G, McCalmon, Moody, Moon, Powers, Ragan, Raper, Reedy, Richey, Rudd, Rudder, Russell, Sherrell, Slater, Sparks, Stevens, Terry, Todd, Travis, Vaughan, Vital, Warner, White, Williams, Wright, Zachary, Mr. Speaker Sexton -- 72.
• Noes - Baum, Beck, Camper, Chism, Clemmons, Dixie, Freeman, Glynn, Hakeem, Hardaway, Harris, Hemmer, Jernigan, Johnson G, Love, McKenzie, Miller, Mitchell, Parkinson, Powell, Shaw, Thompson, Towns -- 25.

Next up was Rep. Johnson of Knoxville. and the resolution to remove her from the House for her actions on March 30 began at 3:35 p.m.

Rep. Johnson began her speech with what transpired on the day in question and denied bringing the bullhorn into the House chamber. She explained how her voice is continuously “silenced on the floor” and feels it is her job to “raise the voices of those in my district.”

After some support from Democrats, including Rep. Gino Bulso, the vote is held at 5:15 p.m. and her expulsion is denied by one vote:

• Ayes - Alexander, Boyd, Bulso, Burkhart, Butler, Campbell S, Capley, Carr, Carringer, Cepicky, Cochran, Crawford, Darby, Davis, Doggett, Eldridge, Faison, Farmer, Fritts, Gant, Garrett, Grills, Hale, Hawk, Hazlewood, Helton-Haynes, Hicks G, Hicks T, Holsclaw, Howell, Hulsey, Hurt, Johnson C, Keisling, Kumar, Lafferty, Lamberth, Leatherwood, Littleton, Lynn, Marsh, Martin B, Martin G, McCalmon, Moody, Moon, Powers, Ragan, Raper, Reedy, Rudd, Rudder, Sherrell, Slater, Stevens, Todd, Travis, Vaughan, Vital, Warner, White, Williams, Wright, Zachary, Mr. Speaker Sexton -- 65.
• Noes - Barrett, Baum, Beck, Bricken, Camper, Chism, Clemmons, Dixie, Freeman, Glynn, Hakeem, Hardaway, Harris, Hemmer, Jernigan, Johnson G, Love, McKenzie, Miller, Mitchell, Parkinson, Powell, Richey, Russell, Shaw, Sparks, Thompson, Towns, Whitson -- 30.

Finally, the resolution to remove Pearson is read at 5:18 p.m., and the young Democrat from Memphis pleads his case to the House members.

Pearson criticizes the efforts to maintain “decorum” in the House chamber and iterates he would rather the focus be on ending gun deaths in the state.

Fellow representatives are given the opportunity to voice their opinion on the resolution to remove Pearson, with one colleague questioning his motives and suggesting his actions brought more attention to himself than gun violence.

Roughly 30 minutes later, the vote on the resolution to remove Pearson from his elected seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives is held at 6:55 p.m. The members vote in favor of the motion. Here is how the votes were tallied:

• Ayes - Alexander, Barrett, Boyd, Bricken, Bulso, Burkhart, Butler, Campbell S, Capley, Carr, Carringer, Cepicky, Cochran, Crawford, Darby, Davis, Doggett, Eldridge, Faison, Farmer, Fritts, Gant, Garrett, Grills, Hale, Hawk, Hazlewood, Helton-Haynes, Hicks G, Hicks T, Holsclaw, Howell, Hulsey, Hurt, Johnson C, Keisling, Kumar, Lafferty, Lamberth, Leatherwood, Littleton, Lynn, Marsh, Martin B, Martin G, McCalmon, Moody, Moon, Powers, Ragan, Raper, Reedy, Rudd, Rudder, Russell, Sherrell, Slater, Sparks, Stevens, Todd, Travis, Vaughan, Vital, Warner, White, Williams, Wright, Zachary, Mr. Speaker Sexton -- 69.
• Noes - Baum, Beck, Camper, Chism, Clemmons, Dixie, Freeman, Gillespie, Glynn, Hakeem, Hardaway, Harris, Hemmer, Jernigan, Johnson G, Love, McKenzie, Miller, Mitchell, Parkinson, Powell, Richey, Shaw, Thompson, Towns -- 26.

Speaker Sexton called for all three to face punishment after they rushed the well of the House during a session on March 30 and encouraged the crowd of protestors in the balcony with a bullhorn the previous week. Speaker Sexton found their actions ultimately disrupted the session.

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