State Rep. Gloria Johnson, one of the so-called “Tennessee Three” Democratic state representatives who were reprimanded for protesting loose gun laws in the state on the House floor, announced she’s running for U.S. Senate Tuesday — a new development that shows how members of the Tennessee Three are using their newfound national name recognition to seek higher office.
Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Tennessee) responds to questions during her expulsion proceedings on the ... [+]
Johnson is one of three Tennessee state representatives who rose to prominence after she was controversially punished for a gun violence protest on the House floor — while her two colleagues were expelled by the majority-Republican legislature, she was not.
She will compete in a primary election for the chance to run against incumbent Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, in a deeply conservative state where Democrats are hoping to take advantage of the national attention gained by the Tennessee Three incident despite heavy gerrymandering and typically low voter turnout in the state.
Johnson made her announcement in a live-streamed speech outside a Knoxville school where she was a teacher during a 2008 shooting that left one student dead, as she sought to highlight gun violence—the issue at the center of her infamous incident—as she kicked off her campaign.
In the speech, Johnson spoke about gun reform, high quality schools, affordable health care, raising wages and union involvement, while criticizing Blackburn for wanting “to cut the taxes of billionaires, corporations and the wealthy and well-connected,” and opposing abortion rights.
Forbes has reached out to Blackburn’s campaign for comment.
Johnson became a national name in April when she, along with state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, were punished by their Republican colleagues in the Tennessee House of Representatives for joining a group of protesters and leading chants on the House floor demanding the legislature take action against gun violence. The protest came days after a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville that killed three 9-year-olds and three teachers. Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton compared the three lawmakers to the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling their actions “unacceptable” and saying they were in violation of House rules. He quickly revoked their ID access to the State Capitol building, and Republicans held votes to expel the three members from the state legislature, garnering nationwide attention and sparking controversy. Johnson was not expelled as the resolution seeking to remove her failed to receive the necessary two-thirds majority, but Jones and Pearson were. When asked why she wasn’t expelled but her colleagues were, Johnson, who is white (Jones and Pearson are Black), said, "It might have to do with the color of our skin." On August 3, voters decided to reelect both representatives (though they had already been reinstated by local officials). Pearson is serving as a co-chair of her campaign.
The path to statewide election victory for any Democrat will be challenging. Blackburn was first elected to the Senate in 2018 when she won by about 10 percentage points. The margin of victory for Republicans has only grown larger in statewide elections. In 2022, Republican Bill Lee defeated Democratic challenger Jason Martin by over 30 percentage points. However, many Democrats believe the national attention brought by the expulsion of Jones and Pearson as well as the reprimanding of Johnson could serve as a rallying cry for Democratic voters who see the actions as racist or undemocratic. State Sen. London Lamar, a Democrat who represents parts of Memphis, told Politico that Democrats have been given “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we have to take advantage of.” In the spring, Pearson and Jones raised more than $2 million combined on the back of the incident and all the national attention they were receiving. The incident also got the attention of national Democrats like Vice President Kamala Harris who made a surprise visit to meet with the state representatives, former President Barack Obama, who tweeted his support, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who described the incident as “facism.”
Ousted Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones Calls For No-Confidence Vote For GOP House Speaker (Forbes)
Tennessee House Expels 2 Democrats Over Gun Reform Protest (Forbes)
Tennessee Expulsions: Senate Democrats Reportedly Call For DOJ To Investigate (Forbes)