ETTRICK – A Tennessee state legislator expelled from, then reinstated to that state’s General Assembly stumped for the Democratic presidential ticket here Thursday, focusing on young voters at two area colleges with this message: “We’re not going back.”
“This moment and this time require the best of our energies, the best of our efforts, the best of our talents to ensure that we do preserve the democratic constitutional republic,” state Rep. Justin Pearson told a group of Virginia State University students in an appearance at Ettrick Deli, across River Road from VSU. A Memphis Democrat, the 29-year-old Pearson was the featured speaker for a dinner and rally for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz coordinated by Virginia Democrats.
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Pearson was one of three state legislators targeted for House expulsion last year for staging a gun-law reform protest on the Assembly floor in the wake of a shooting at a Nashville-area school. On April 6, 2023, the House Republican majority expelled him and Justin Jones of Nashville while sparing Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, the only white member of the group.