Gloria Johnson | |
---|---|
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives | |
Assumed office January 8, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Eddie Smith |
Constituency | 13th district (2019–2023) 90th district (2023–present) |
In office January 8,2013 –January 13,2015 | |
Preceded by | Harry J. Tindell |
Succeeded by | Eddie Smith |
Constituency | 13th district |
Personal details | |
Born | Denver,Colorado,U.S. | May 25,1962
Political party | Democratic |
Education | University of Tennessee (BA) |
Website | Campaign website |
Gloria Johnson (born May 25,1962) [1] is an American politician and Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives currently representing District 90,and formerly District 13,based in Knoxville. [2] In April 2023,she and two other state representatives faced expulsion votes from the Tennessee General Assembly after taking to the floor of the State House unrecognized to protest gun violence. Johnson was the only one of the three legislators not to be expelled. Johnson is currently seeking the Democratic Party nomination for the 2024 United States Senate election in Tennessee currently held by incumbent Republican Marsha Blackburn.
In 2012,Johnson was elected to represent District 13 in the Tennessee House of Representatives. She lost re-election to Eddie Smith in 2014. Following a failed attempt in 2016,Johnson defeated Smith in 2018. [3] She was re-elected in 2020. [4] Following redistricting,Johnson's residence became located in District 15,which already had a Democratic incumbent. Because of this,Johnson moved to District 90 and won the seat in 2022. [5]
In January 2021,Johnson was assigned a small,windowless conference room for use as her office in the Cordell Hull State Office Building. Johnson disagreed with the room she was given,and alleged her assignment to it was retribution from State House Speaker Cameron Sexton after she was the only representative to abstain from voting for Sexton in the speakership election. Johnson instead moved her desk to the hallway outside and gave the room to her assistant,who was originally given a non-connecting closet for her office. [6] In 2022,following a year-long campaign,she was assigned a new office space,subsequent to an ADA compliance complaint. [7]
Following reportage of Rutherford County,Tennessee juvenile arrest and incarceration scandal,in January 2022,with Senator Heidi Campbell,she filed a joint resolution to remove juvenile court Judge Donna Scott Davenport from the bench. [8]
During a legislative session three days after the 2023 Covenant School shooting, Johnson and fellow Democratic representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson led a gun control protest on the House floor. [9] Later dubbed the "Tennessee Three", the trio interrupted House proceedings with their demonstration as thousands protested outside of the building. [10] The demonstration violated the chamber's decorum rules, as the three members were not recognized to speak and utilized a bullhorn. [11]
Subsequently, House leadership stripped Johnson and Jones of their committee assignments (Pearson did not serve on any committees), and resolutions to expel the three were drawn up. [12] [13] During her interview with Mother Jones a day before her expulsion vote, Johnson accused House Republicans of fascism and said she believed Tennessee was less democratic than North Korea. [14] Jones and Pearson were expelled while Johnson avoided expulsion by the margin of a single vote. [11] [15] The expulsion vote gathered national attention for the three Democratic lawmakers, including praise from Vice President Kamala Harris during a speech at Fisk University following the vote. [16]
In late July 2023, it was reported Johnson would launch a campaign the following month to challenge Senator Marsha Blackburn in the 2024 election. [17] In early August, Johnson launched an exploratory committee in preparation for a Senate run. [18] On September 5, Johnson formally launched her senate campaign. [19]
In March 2024, Grammy-winning vocalists Brandi Carlile, Emmylou Harris, Maren Morris, and Allison Russell, along with more than 30 other artists, came together to record and release a new "soul anthem" called Tennessee Rise in support of Johnson's senate campaign. [20]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Becky Duncan Massey | 10,006 | 63.56 | |
Democratic | Gloria S. Johnson | 5,737 | 36.44 | |
Total votes | 15,743 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson | 778 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 778 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson | 10,018 | 48.09 | |
Republican | Gary Loe | 9,730 | 46.71 | |
Independent | Nick H. Cazana | 1,084 | 5.20 | |
Total votes | 20,832 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson (incumbent) | 1,798 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 1,798 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Eddie Smith | 6,730 | 50.69 | |
Democratic | Gloria Johnson (incumbent) | 6,548 | 49.31 | |
Total votes | 13,278 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson | 1,639 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 1,639 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Eddie Smith (incumbent) | 11,162 | 50.34 | |
Democratic | Gloria Johnson | 11,011 | 49.66 | |
Total votes | 22,173 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson | 4,243 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 4,243 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson | 11,495 | 54.92 | |
Republican | Eddie Smith (incumbent) | 9,041 | 43.20 | |
Independent | Zachary Houk | 394 | 1.88 | |
Total votes | 20,930 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson (incumbent) | 5,031 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 5,031 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson (incumbent) | 14,242 | 52.93 | |
Republican | Elaine Davis | 12,664 | 47.07 | |
Total votes | 26,906 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson (incumbent) | 3,690 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 3,690 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gloria Johnson (incumbent) | 8,473 | 57.90 | |
Republican | David "Pozy" Poczobut | 6,162 | 42.10 | |
Total votes | 14,635 | 100.0 |
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Mark White is an American politician. A Republican, he represents District 83 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Cameron A. Sexton is an American politician from Tennessee. A Republican, he has been a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 25th District since 2011, and has been the Speaker of the state House since 2019. Before becoming Speaker, Sexton was Majority Caucus Chairman.
Debra Moody is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 81 since January 8, 2013.
Susan M. Lynn is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 57 since January 8, 2013. Lynn served from January 2003 until November 2010. In 2012 Lynn was re-elected to the Tennessee House.
Mary Littleton is an American politician. A Republican, she has represented District 78 in the Tennessee House of Representatives since January 8, 2013.
Andrew Ellis Farmer is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 17 since January 8, 2013.
Pat Marsh is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 62 since winning the special election on October 13, 2009, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Curt Cobb.
Kelly T. Keisling is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 38 since January 2011.
Curtis G. Johnson is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 68 since January 2005.
Charles Nolan "Bud" Hulsey is an American politician. A Republican, he represents the 2nd District in Sullivan County in the Tennessee House of Representatives. During his tenure in the Tennessee House of Representatives, he has proposed to ban COVID vaccines and lab-grown meat.
Sarbjeet S. Kumar is an Indian-American politician and physician. A Republican, Kumar has represented the 66th district in the Tennessee House of Representatives since 2015. He chairs the House Insurance Committee.
Mark Cochran is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represents District 23 in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was elected as part of the 111th general assembly in November 2018. He was preceded by Republican representative John W. Forgety. District 23 encompasses McMinn County and parts of Monroe County. Cochran began serving as the treasurer for the Tennessee State House of Representatives in 2019.
Charlie Baum is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 37 (Murfreesboro) since November 6, 2018. Baum is also a professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University.
Clark Boyd is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 46 since January 2018.
Justin Augustus Lafferty is an American politician from the state of Tennessee. A Republican, Lafferty has represented the 89th district of the Tennessee House of Representatives, based in the western suburbs of Knoxville, since 2019.
Michele Carringer is an American politician who currently serves as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 16th district. A Republican, Carringer's district includes the suburban areas directly north of Knoxville. Carringer was elected to the state house in 2020, succeeding longtime representative Bill Dunn.
Justin Shea Bautista-Jones is an American activist and politician from the state of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he serves in the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 52, representing parts of Nashville. As of 2023, Jones is the second youngest member of the State House. He was expelled in April 2023 for violating decorum rules by participating in a gun control protest on the House floor. The Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously to reinstate Jones to serve as an interim representative pending a special election to fill the seat.
Justin Jamal Pearson is an American activist and politician. He is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing the 86th district, covering parts of the city of Memphis. He was elected in a January 2023 special election to succeed Barbara Cooper, who was posthumously re-elected in the November 2022 Tennessee House of Representatives election after dying in October 2022. When he was sworn into office at the age of 28, Pearson became the third youngest lawmaker serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
On April 6, 2023, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted on resolutions to expel Democratic Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin J. Pearson for violating the chamber's decorum rules by leading personal protests for gun reform on the House floor and joining demonstrators in the chamber's public galleries during a legislative session three days after the 2023 Covenant School shooting. Resolutions for the expulsions of Jones and Pearson passed with a two-thirds majority, and they were removed from office. The resolution against Johnson failed to pass by one vote.