Democratic State Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville gestures during a vote on his expulsion from the state legislature at the State Capitol Building on April 6, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. Monday, the -Nashville Metro Council voted to temporarily reinstate Jones to House District 52.
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Democratic State Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville gestures during a vote on his expulsion from the state legislature at the State Capitol Building on April 6, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. Monday, the -Nashville Metro Council voted to temporarily reinstate Jones to House District 52.
Seth Herald/Getty Images
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously to reinstate Democrat Justin Jones to his seat in the Tennessee House. The GOP-led legislature fired Jones last week for gun reform protests he led on the floor of the chamber after the Covenant School shooting.
The vote puts Jones in the seat on an interim basis until a special election for the seat can be held.
“Justin Jones has been elected to the Tennessee House 52 vacancy in accordance with state law and the rules governing the Metropolitan Council,” Deputy Mayor Jim Shulman announced during Monday’s special call. a meetingas cheers rang out in the gallery.
Metro Council rules normally require members to wait four weeks before filling vacancies in the state legislature. Only two dissenting members would have been needed to avoid a suspension of the rules. If that had happened, the Tennessee legislative session could have been adjourned until Jones was reinstated.
“I know that the members of the community called us and sent us an email and I think they did a good job because today we didn’t have a single objection to the suspension of the rules,” said Council Member Sandra Sepulveda.
Before the meeting, at least 30 council members issued statements declaring their intention to vote Jones back into the District 52 seat. He needed a simple majority of the 40-member council to regain the a chair
Meanwhile, in Shelby County, commissioners will meet Wednesday to discuss the reappointment of ousted running mate Rep. Justin Pearson, also a Democrat.
Since the expulsion of the two young Black legislators, Black leaders they called the move racist and hypocritical. The third lawmaker who took part in the protest, Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, escaped expulsion and is the only one among the three who is white.
