By Bill Short
In his bid for a second term, Tennessee District 86 State Rep. Justin J. Pearson defeated David Page in the Aug. 1 Democratic primary election.
He received 3,783 votes, while Page got 267.
No one filed a qualifying petition for the Republican primary election. So, Pearson will face Independent candidate Jeff Johnston in the Nov. 5 general election.
District 86 extends along the Mississippi River from southwest Memphis through the downtown area and includes Millington.
In the Democratic congressional primary, 9th District U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen defeated three challengers. In Shelby County, he received 29,818 votes.
The other candidates and their Shelby vote totals were:
Kasandra L. Smith, 1,507; Corey Strong, 7,115; and M Latroy A-Williams, 1,928.
Charlotte Bergmann, the only candidate in the 9th District Republican primary, got 9,033 votes in Shelby County.
In the statewide Democratic U.S. Senate primary, District 90 State Rep. Gloria Johnson defeated three competitors: Marquita Bradshaw, Lola Denise Brown, and Civil Miller-Watkins.
In the statewide Republican U.S. Senate primary, incumbent Marsha Blackburn defeated challenger Tres Wittum.
In January 2023, Pearson initially won a special Democratic primary election to replace deceased District 86 State Rep. Barbara Cooper.
Defeating nine other candidates on the ballot, Pearson received 1,235 of the 2,360 total votes cast.
Because no one filed a qualifying petition for the special Republican primary election, Pearson was the only candidate on the ballot for the March 2023 special general election.
He was initially sworn in as District 86 representative 13 days later.
On April 6, 2023, Pearson was one of two state representatives expelled for “disorderly behavior” after they had brought a bullhorn to the “well” of the House chamber one week earlier 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, 2023 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.
On April 18, 2023, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee filed a Writ of Election with Secretary of State Tre’ Hargett’s office that set special primary and general election dates to choose a “permanent” representative for District 86.
That summer, Pearson won the June special Democratic primary with 2,209 votes, to 125 for Page. No one filed a petition for the Republican primary.
He won the August special general election with 2,439 votes, to 157 for Johnston.
