The two Tennessee Democratic lawmakers who grabbed national headlines earlier this year after being expelled by state Republicans over protests following a mass school shooting easily won their respective special elections for their seats on Thursday.
State Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville beat Republican challenger Laura Nelson, while Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis won his race against independent candidate Jeff Johnston. In the Democratic primaries held in June, Pearson faced challenger David Page, while Jones ran unopposed. Both sailed through to easy primary victories.
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Jones and Pearson were elected to the GOP-dominated Tennessee legislature last year. Both had largely flown under the radar and only rose in prominence after they joined a protest for gun control on the state House floor. The demonstrations took place after a fatal shooting at a Nashville Christian school where three students and three adults were gunned down.
Republican lawmakers quickly zeroed in on Jones and Pearson's involvement in the protest. The GOP said their actions violated House rules and expelled them. A third Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white and also participated in the demonstration, survived her expulsion vote. Local government officials reinstated Jones and Pearson to their posts just days after they were removed in April, though they still had to be reelected to their old posts.
The move to kick out the two black men drew widespread condemnation, outrage, and accusations of racism across the country.
President Joe Biden called the expulsion "shocking undemocratic, and without precedent."
The Congressional Black Caucus, as well as former President Barack Obama, also weighed in on the controversy, calling it a "sign of weakness, not strength" and saying it wouldn't "lead to progress."
One Republican strategist called the expulsion "a disaster."
"This went from a Nashville news story to a national outrage," he told the Washington Examiner, while Democratic strategist Brad Bannon called the GOP's move "ham-handed."
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"They made themselves look like fools, they accentuated it by kicking out two African American legislators and not the white woman, and it's already backfired," he said. "[Jones and Pearson] are basically martyrs for the cause now, the fight against gun violence. This is symptomatic of the GOP playing to its hardcore conservative base and not knowing a wit about how swing voters will react to these extreme actions."
House GOP Speaker Rep. Cameron Sexton, along with other House members, pushed back against allegations of racism and defended the decision made.
"In my house on the floor, since I'm speaker, we have rules, we have decorum, we have a process, we have procedures," he said.
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The move to oust Pearson and Johnson and criticize Johnson largely backfired. The trio were quickly dubbed the "Tennessee Three." Pearson and Jones's campaign fundraising exploded after the incident, with the two raising a combined $2 million through 70,4000 campaign donations from across the country.
More than 15 Republican lawmakers tried to give Nelson a financial boost, raising more than $34,000. Johnston raised less than $400 in his contest against Pearson.