Tennessee Democrat Gloria Johnson was spared expulsion from the House. Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who are on her team, did not vote for the resolution.
A Democrat from Tennessee who will be expelled from the state senate on Thursday has claimed that her dismissal is based on her skin color.
After getting enough votes to remove Representative Justin Jones (a Democrat who is black and Filipino) from office, a motion to remove Representative Gloria Johnson (who is white) failed by a single vote. Rep. Justin Pearson, a fellow Black Democrat, was expelled in a third vote.
Their participation in a demonstration pushing for gun regulation following last week’s shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, in which six people were murdered, including three children, may have resulted in expulsion.
A reporter questioned Johnson why she wasn’t expelled along with Jones when the vote to do so failed.
She speculated that it may be linked to the fact that we are of different races.
Elected officials rejected Jones and Pearson on Thursday. This is a very unprecedented action, occurring just a handful of times since the end of the Civil War. Members of most state legislatures are subject to expulsion, however this is often reserved for politicians who have committed serious misconduct.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the proposed expulsions “shocking, undemocratic, and unprecedented” before the votes were cast.