'Tennessee Three' Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson, Justin J. Pearson dominate opinion reads

Editor's note: This column was adapted from the Dec. 21 edition of the Tennessee Voices newsletter, written by the author.

As I was thinking about a year-end column to write, I recently searched for the term "Tennessee politics" in Google Trends for all of 2023 to see what related phrases would pop up.

What topped the list was the “Tennessee Three.”

The moniker refers to Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin J. Pearson of Memphis and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville who protested on the state House floor for gun law reform in the days after the murders of six people, including three 9 year-olds, at The Covenant School.

But the three lawmakers violated the rules of decorum, thus, GOP lawmakers in the supermajority Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly sought to have them all expelled. They succeeded in ousting Jones and Pearson, but the vote to get rid of Johnson failed by one vote.

The action elicited condemnation from across the globe and made superstars of the trio, earning them invitations to the White House and allowing them to raise a lot of campaign money.

Pearson and Jones were easily returned to the legislature by their county commissions and were handily elected in a special election and the general election. Johnson has launched a campaign for Senate, seeking the Democratic nomination and a chance to face incumbent Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, in November 2024.

Letters to the editor on the Tennessee Three were widely read

I mention all this narrative because the top-read opinion columns and letters of 2023 reflected what Google Trends reported back to me.

Six of the Top 10 read opinion pieces, in fact, had to do with how readers or columnists perceived the situation. Here's a recap:

• Letters: What readers say about Tennessee lawmakers seeking to expel three colleagues

• Letters: Readers across the globe are responding to the expulsion of Tennessee lawmakers

• Letters: These readers agree with the expulsion of the 'Tennessee Three' from the House

• Guest opinion column: Circle of Elders: Why we stand with Reps. Johnson, Jones and Pearson

• Letters: 'Could there have been a worse response?' U.S. readers blast Tennessee House expulsion

• Column by me: Lawmakers expel colleagues and put Tennessee in the spotlight for the wrong reasons

This shows the power and impact of letters to the editor from readers, especially on issues of great consequence. I had never seen such a flurry of responses globally on what essentially was a local issue -- and the readers kept on wanting more.

But will Jones, Johnson and Pearson make as great a splash in 2024?

What remains to be seen in 2024:

Will the Tennessee Three make an impact on the legislative session? Or will it be a wash, rinse and repeat routine, or in their case, protest, expulsion and return?

Can Johnson win the Democratic nomination? She is likely to be the best funded and most known because of the Tennessee Three publicity, but there are lessons to be learned from a poorly funded political unknown named Marquita Bradshaw who won the nod in 2020 ahead of better known and monied rivals. Bradshaw is running again in 2024.

Finally, will the election allow Republicans to grow their supermajority further or will Democrats reverse their gains and make an impact beyond mainly urban corridors?

I ran into Representative Jones at the Gov. Bill Lee's recent announcement of his proposal to expand school vouchers statewide and we chatted for a bit.

One thing I am certain is neither Jones nor Pearson nor Johnson will be silent. They may actually look to provoke Republican leaders into seeking to punish them once again.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters.. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Tennessee Three' dominate top read columns, letters