UPDATE: Nashville Democrat Justin Jones has won back his state House seat according to the Associated Press. Jones a member of the so-called “Tennessee Three,” won back the seat that Republican lawmakers expelled him for his participation in a pro-gun control protest in the Capitol.
ORIGINAL: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — While all of Davidson County took to the polls Thursday to make their selections for mayor, vice mayor and all 40 Metro Councilmembers, voters in Tennessee House District 52 also had a special general election on their ballot.
District 52 voters were tasked with selecting someone to fill the open seat in the Tennessee General Assembly held by Rep. Justin Jones. Jones was expelled from the legislature earlier this year after he and Reps. Gloria Johnson (Knoxville) and Justin Pearson (Memphis) staged a protest at the well of the House of Representatives following the Covenant School shooting. Pearson was also expelled, but Johnson survived her expulsion vote.
Despite being expelled from the seat he was elected to just months prior, Jones was immediately reappointed to fill his previous seat by the Metro Council. He currently serves in the General Assembly on an interim basis.
Jones faced no opposition in the special Democratic primary this year, and he will face Laura Nelson in the special general election.
Jones has been an outspoken critic of the Republican leadership in the General Assembly, staging a sit-in at the Tennessee Capitol building following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
