There is nothing It’s like telling people to keep their mouths shut in order to start a political fire.
In April 2023, three opposition lawmakers were thrust into the national spotlight after the Republican-led Tennessee House of Representatives removed them from office for their role in a gun reform protest. State Rep. Gloria Johnson was one of them, and along with Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, they stood with students and their families at the state Capitol in the wake of the Nashville Covenant school shooting, loudly and defiantly calling for change. “Eighty percent of Tennesseans want to do something about guns,” Johnson told me. “They want gun-sense legislation.”
“There is no country where people live like this.”
I first met Johnson the day before that unprecedented vote. She stayed in office, but the other two did not, and they were quickly reappointed to their seats until the special elections for reelection. Their pioneering stance earned them a lot of support and a media-friendly nickname: the Tennessee Three.
Since then, Johnson has launched a campaign to defeat Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a close ally of Donald Trump, for the U.S. Senate in November. “Tennessee needs someone who will work for them,” she said. “Someone who cares about making sure everyone has access to affordable health care.”
The profiles the trio gained last year gave them a chance to get their message across on the biggest stage of their political careers to date: the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath will join several other lawmakers and Arizona Rep. and activist Gabrielle Giffords for a conversation focused on the devastating impact of gun violence. “We don’t have to live like this,” Johnson said. “Other countries don’t live like this.”
