Justin Jones (Tennessee politician)

Justin Shea Bautista-Jones (born August 25, 1995) is an American activist and politician from the state of Tennessee.[1] He is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 52, representing parts of Nashville. Jones served from January 2023 until April 6, 2023, when he was expelled for participating in a gun control protest inside the state capitol in a manner that Republicans said was "disorderly behavior". On April 10, 2023, the Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously to reinstate Jones to serve as an interim representative pending a special election to fill the seat.[2][3]

Justin Jones
Jones in 2023
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
from the 52nd district
Interim
Assumed office
April 10, 2023
Appointed byNashville City Council
Preceded byHimself
In office
January 10, 2023 – April 6, 2023
Preceded byMike Stewart
Succeeded byHimself
Personal details
Born
Justin Shea Bautista-Jones

(1995-08-25) August 25, 1995
Oakland, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationFisk University (BA)
Vanderbilt University

Early life and education

Jones was born on August 25, 1995, in Oakland, California to a Filipina mother and an African American father. His mother, Christine, raised Justin and his sister while putting herself through nursing school. He is the grandson of black, working-class grandparents from the South Side of Chicago and Filipino immigrants of Ibanag and Aeta ancestry who migrated to California.[4] He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Fisk University and enrolled at Vanderbilt Divinity School.[5] In 2019, he campaigned for the removal of a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee State Capitol.[6]

Career

In 2019, Jones announced his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Tennessee's 5th congressional district against Jim Cooper in the 2020 elections.[7] He did not submit enough valid signatures to make the ballot.[8]

Jones was arrested for refusing to leave a rally held by Marsha Blackburn in October 2018.[9] He was charged in 2019 with assaulting Glen Casada, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, by allegedly throwing a drink, believed to be a hot coffee, at him.[10] He was also banned from the Capitol.[11] Casada later agreed to drop the charges.[12]

In 2020, Jones organized a 62-day sit-in protest for racial justice outside the state capitol after the murder of George Floyd. Among others, he was charged with assault, assault on an officer, and reckless endangerment after throwing a traffic cone into a moving truck's open driver-side window; Jones claimed that the driver was threatening him and using racial slurs.[13] He was arrested and faced a total of 14 charges.[14] Many of the charges were dropped in July 2021, but the reckless endangerment charges remained.[15] An assault charge regarding Jones allegedly hitting a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper with a bullhorn in July 2020 was dismissed by a judge in April 2023.[16]

Tennessee House of Representatives

2022 election

In 2022, Jones ran to succeed State Representative Mike Stewart as the member of the Tennessee House for the 52nd district.[17] Jones defeated Delishia Porterfield, a member of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County, in the Democratic Party primary election.[18] He won the general election without opposition.[19][20]

Expulsion and reappointment
Main article: 2023 Tennessee House of Representatives expulsions
Vote on expelling Justin Jones.
  Democrat voted against expulsion
  Republican voted for expulsion
  Republican voted against expulsion
  Republican didn't vote

After the March 2023 mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Jones joined a protest alongside Gloria Johnson and Justin J. Pearson for gun control reform that disrupted House proceedings at the state capitol.[21] He was removed from his committees as a result.[22] Jones, Johnson and Pearson became known as "The Tennessee Three". On April 5, 2023, Rep. Jones filed a police report after he was allegedly assaulted on the House floor by Rep. Justin Lafferty.[23] The Tennessee House voted on April 6, 2023, to expel Jones, alongside Pearson, who are both black. Johnson, who is white, survived the vote.[24] The resolution, HR 65, was sponsored by Bud Hulsey and co-sponsored by Gino Bulso, Andrew Farmer, and Johnny Garrett; it passed with a vote of 72–25.[25]

The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County set a meeting to discuss an interim appointment to the vacant District 52 on April 10.[26][27] Jones was reinstated to his seat by a unanimous vote of 36–0.[2]

Electoral history
Tennessee's 52nd representative district Democratic primary, 2022[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Jones 1,956 53.24
Democratic Delishia Porterfield 1,718 46.76
Total votes 3,674 100.0
Tennessee's 52nd representative district election results, 2022[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Jones 8,596 100.0
Total votes 8,596 100.0

Notes

    References
    1. "Representative Justin Jones". Tennessee General Assembly. April 4, 2023. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
    2. Crampton, Liz (April 10, 2023). "Nashville Council reinstates exiled Tennessee lawmaker". Politico. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
    3. Halpert, Madeline (April 10, 2023). "Justin Jones: Tennessee lawmaker reinstated three days after expulsion". BBC News. New York. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
    4. "Justin Jones for TN 52". Retrieved April 7, 2023.
    5. "Tennessee Aug. 4 election: Justin Jones, candidate , state House D-52". Tennessean.com. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
    6. Logan Langlois (July 28, 2022). "A Conversation With Justin Jones, Candidate for District 52 Representative – The Tennessee Tribune". Tntribune.com. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
    7. Elliott, Stephen. "Justin Jones makes his pitch". Nashville Post.
    8. Elliott, Stephen. "Candidates left off ballot". Nashville Post.
    9. Wallace, Harriet (November 5, 2018). "Vanderbilt student faces legal battle after being kicked out of Blackburn rally". WZTV.
    10. "Nashville activist Justin Jones wants prosecutor off assault case". The Tennessean. July 25, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
    11. Allison, Natalie (March 1, 2019). "Activist Justin Jones banned from Capitol after alleged assault on Speaker Glen Casada". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
    12. "Glen Casada OKs dropping charges against activist Justin Jones". The Tennessean. November 13, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
    13. Mattise, Jonathan (June 24, 2021). "Tennessee activist charged in traffic cone toss into truck". Associated Press. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
    14. "Justin Jones, Tennessee State Representative, Urges Young People to Get Into Good Trouble". Teen Vogue. October 6, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
    15. Timms, Mariah (July 26, 2021). "Justin Jones 2020 People's Plaza arrests dismissed". The Tennessean. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
    16. "Assault charge dismissed against Nashville activist Justin Jones". WSMV4. April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
    17. Elliott, Stephen. "Activist Justin Jones launches campaign for state House". Nashville Post.
    18. Rau, Nate (August 5, 2022). "Activists-turned-candidates win legislative races". Axios.
    19. Elliott, Stephen. "Nashville Democrats Elected to State Legislature". Nashville Scene.
    20. "The Tennessean". The Tennessean.
    21. Fawcett, Eliza; Cochrane, Emily (April 6, 2023). "Tennessee House Ousts Democratic Lawmaker: What You Need to Know". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
    22. Gainey, Blaise (April 3, 2023). "Republicans bar three Democrats from committees following their gun control protest on Tennessee House floor". wpln.org.
    23. Sauter, Danica (April 5, 2023). "Rep. Justin Jones files police report after alleged assault on House floor". Retrieved April 6, 2023.
    24. Kruesi, Kimberlee; Mattise, Jonathan (April 6, 2023). "GOP lawmakers to vote on expelling Democrats in gun protest". Associated Press. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
    25. "HR0065". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
    26. Elamroussi, Aya. "Tennessee House expusion: Nashville sends Justin Jones back to the Tennessee House days after GOP lawmakers ousted him". CNN. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
    27. "Special Meeting Agenda, Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County, April 10, 2023". nashville.legistar.com. April 10, 2023. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
    28. "State of Tennessee August 4, 2022 Democratic Primary" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. September 1, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
    29. "November 8, 2022 State of Tennessee – Totals State General" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. December 13, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
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