Jones did vote against his own expulsion, as did Johnson & Pearson. It was more a matter of not having enough YES votes than how many voted NO. 66 votes (2/3 of 99 House members) are required for expulsion. The expulsion vote on Jones vote (72-25, 2 not voting) was first, and he could not vote after that. The expulsion vote on Johnson (65-30) failed by 1 vote. The vote on Pearson was 69-26. The 4 not voting on the latter two expulsions included Jones.
Charlie Baum (R-Murfreesboro) was the only Republican to vote NO on all three expulsions. He is an Economics professor at Middle Tennessee State University. 3 Republicans voted against Pearson’s expulsion and 7 voted against Johnson’s.
Prior to the expulsion vote, there were 75 Republicans and 24 Democrats. For now, there are 22 Democrats. The justification rhetoric from Republicans called the Tennessee Three “insurrectionists” and lambasts Democrats for hypocrisy for not acknowledging that this is like (or even worse!?!) than Jan. 6. Jones and Pearson are likely to be reappointed by their respective county commissions - Davidson & Shelby, which are blue dots in red Tennessee. They should easily win special elections to come. Johnson likely would not have been reappointed by the Republican county commission in Knox County. Whether or not that figured into any of the Republicans who voted not to expel her, I cannot say. Johnson herself thought it had more to do with the fact she is “a 60 year old white woman and they’re two young black men.”
One note: had Gloria been expelled, it’s probable she would have been replaced by a Repub since the Knox County Commission is mostly Repub. At least the Justins are from blue areas.
Might that logic not mean Justin Jones would have been able to vote when he was being expelled and he would not have lost?
Jones did vote against his own expulsion, as did Johnson & Pearson. It was more a matter of not having enough YES votes than how many voted NO. 66 votes (2/3 of 99 House members) are required for expulsion. The expulsion vote on Jones vote (72-25, 2 not voting) was first, and he could not vote after that. The expulsion vote on Johnson (65-30) failed by 1 vote. The vote on Pearson was 69-26. The 4 not voting on the latter two expulsions included Jones.
Charlie Baum (R-Murfreesboro) was the only Republican to vote NO on all three expulsions. He is an Economics professor at Middle Tennessee State University. 3 Republicans voted against Pearson’s expulsion and 7 voted against Johnson’s.
Prior to the expulsion vote, there were 75 Republicans and 24 Democrats. For now, there are 22 Democrats. The justification rhetoric from Republicans called the Tennessee Three “insurrectionists” and lambasts Democrats for hypocrisy for not acknowledging that this is like (or even worse!?!) than Jan. 6. Jones and Pearson are likely to be reappointed by their respective county commissions - Davidson & Shelby, which are blue dots in red Tennessee. They should easily win special elections to come. Johnson likely would not have been reappointed by the Republican county commission in Knox County. Whether or not that figured into any of the Republicans who voted not to expel her, I cannot say. Johnson herself thought it had more to do with the fact she is “a 60 year old white woman and they’re two young black men.”
A good article from a Knoxville news station: https://www.wbir.com/article/news/politics/tennessee-house-expulsion-vote-gloria-johnson-knoxville-general-assembly/51-b2ad16df-0c1e-482c-83a4-b2e1d4fba6f4
One note: had Gloria been expelled, it’s probable she would have been replaced by a Repub since the Knox County Commission is mostly Repub. At least the Justins are from blue areas.