By Bill Short
An Early Voting period will begin tomorrow for an Aug. 3 special general election to choose a “permanent” state representative for Tennessee House District 86.
It will extend from July 14-29, with Baker Community Center at 7942 Church St. serving as the Early Voting location for Millington.
The hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
The last day that the Shelby County Election Commission will accept an application for an absentee ballot is July 27.
District 86 extends along the Mississippi River from southwest Memphis through the downtown area and includes Millington.
On April 18, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee filed a Writ of Election with Secretary of State Tre’ Hargett’s office that set primary and general election dates.
That same day, the Election Commission began issuing qualifying petitions for a June 15 primary election. The deadline for filing petitions was noon on May 4.
Candidates whose petitions were approved for the Democratic primary were David Page and Justin J. Pearson.
Pearson received 2,209 votes in the primary, while Page got 125. One write-in ballot was cast. Because no one filed a qualifying petition for the special Republican primary election, Pearson now faces Independent candidate Jeff Johnston in the general election.
On Jan. 24, Pearson initially won a special Democratic primary election to replace deceased District 86 State Rep. Barbara Cooper.
Defeating nine other candidates on the ballot, he received 1,235 of the 2,360 total votes cast. No one filed a qualifying petition for the special Republican primary election, so Pearson was the only candidate on the ballot for the March 14 special general election.
He was initially sworn in as District 86 representative on March 27.
On April 6, Pearson was one of two state representatives expelled for “disorderly behavior” after they brought a bullhorn to the “well” of the House chamber on March 30 and led chants for gun control legislation with supporters in the Gallery.
That was three days after three 9-year-old students and three staff members of the Covenant School in Nashville were killed by a woman using an assault rifle.
By a 7-0 vote during an April 12 special called meeting, the Shelby County Commission temporarily appointed Pearson to fill the vacant position. The six other commissioners were not present at the meeting.
The next day in Nashville, he was sworn in as “interim” state representative for District 86.
