Memphis council to vote on reinstating Justin J. Pearson to Tennessee Legislature

Memphis-area officials will meet Wednesday to decide whether to reinstate Justin J. Pearson to the Tennessee Legislature after Republicans expelled him last week for protesting gun violence on the chamber floor.

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners is slated to take up the issue during a special meeting in Memphis on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Democrats hold a 9-4 majority on the 13-seat board. Only a handful of members have so far commented publicly about their support for Pearson and their intention to vote to return him to the Legislature. A simple majority is required.

Pearson and fellow Democrat Justin Jones, who are Black, were expelled Thursday in unprecedented votes in the state House that drew national attention to racial and political dynamics in the state’s legislative body.

Jones, Pearson and state Rep. Gloria Johnson had led supporters in chants calling for restrictions on guns after a shooting at a Nashville school killed six people, including three 9-year-old children. The three technically broke House rules by speaking when they were not recognized to. Jones and Pearson addressed protesters with a bullhorn.

Johnson, who is white, narrowly survived her vote — a result she has suggested was related to her race — while Pearson and Jones did not.

The vote by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners will come two days after the Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously to reinstate Jones to his seat in the Legislature. The council suspended its rules to allow an immediate vote instead of holding an extended nomination period.

Cameron Sexton, the Republican House speaker, seated Jones to his old position and has committed to seating whomever Shelby County officials appoint to fill Pearson’s vacancy, including Pearson.

Under state rules, elections for both seats must still be held. Those rules dictate that Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, must schedule a primary for Jones’ and Pearson’s seats within 60 days and a general election within 107 days. Both Jones and Pearson have said they will seek re-election.

The expulsions represented a historic event in the Legislature. Since the Civil War, Tennessee state House members have voted to expel a member only twice — one instance followed an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, while another followed a bribery conviction. Similarly, the Tennessee Senate voted last year to expel a sitting member for the first time — Katrina Robinson — after she was convicted of federal wire fraud charges.

But unlike in those instances, Jones and Pearson were expelled for violating House rules. 

Democrats across the U.S. — including the White House — have broadcast broad support for Jones and Pearson. 

President Joe Biden has called the “Tennessee Three” — a moniker that also includes Johnson — and has invited them to visit the White House, while slamming the expulsions of Jones and Pearson as “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.” Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Nashville on Friday to meet with the three lawmakers.

Adam Edelman

Adam Edelman is a political reporter for NBC News.

Rose Horowitch contributed.