By Bill Short
Justin J. Pearson was sworn in on April 13 as District 86 “interim” state representative one week after he was expelled by the Tennessee House of Representatives.
During an April 12 special called meeting, the Shelby County Commission made the temporary appointment to fill the vacancy by a 7-0 vote.
The six other commissioners were not present at the meeting.
District 86 extends along the Mississippi River from southwest Memphis through the downtown area and includes Millington.
Pearson, D-Memphis, 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.
Pearson was removed by a 69-to-26 vote, and District 52 Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, was ousted by a 72-to-25 vote.
Jones was sworn in on April 10, shortly after the 36-member Nashville Metro Council unanimously approved his interim appointment to fill the vacant seat.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee must now file a Writ of Election with Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office to set the dates for a special primary and general election.
The Election Commissions of Davidson and Shelby counties will then begin issuing qualifying petitions for the primary election.
Jones and Pearson have both said they will be candidates in the primary.
On Jan. 24, Pearson won a special Democratic primary election to replace deceased District 86 State Rep. Barbara Cooper, D-Memphis.
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 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.
Cooper died on Oct. 25, 2022 at the age of 93.
But, as mandated by state law, her name remained on the ballot for the Nov. 8, 2022 general election.
She posthumously received 8,006 votes against 2,944 that were cast for Independent candidate Michael Porter.
