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Justin Pearson (Tennessee)
2023 - Present
2026
2
Justin Pearson (Democratic Party) is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 86. He assumed office on August 21, 2023. His current term ends on November 3, 2026.
Pearson (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent District 86. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
The Shelby County Commission appointed Pearson as an acting legislator in the Tennessee House of Representatives on January 24, 2023, to replace Barbara Cooper (D). He served in an acting capacity until the special general election on March 14, 2023, at which point he became an elected member of the Tennessee House.[1]
On April 6, 2023, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted 69-26 on House resolution 63 to expel Pearson, and on April 12, 2023, the Shelby County Commission voted to reinstate him.[2] Click here to learn more.
Biography
Justin Pearson graduated from Mitchell High School.[3] Pearson's career experience includes working as a community organizer. He founded a nonprofit.[4]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Justin Pearson is running in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Justin Pearson (D) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2024
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Justin Pearson defeated Jeff Johnston in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Pearson (D) | 77.9 | 15,612 |
| Jeff Johnston (Independent) | 22.1 | 4,436 | ||
| Total votes: 20,048 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Justin Pearson defeated David Page in the Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on August 1, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Pearson | 93.4 | 3,784 |
| David Page | 6.6 | 267 | ||
| Total votes: 4,051 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Pearson in this election.
2023
August 3 special election
See also: Tennessee state legislative special elections, 2023
General election
Special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Justin Pearson defeated Jeff Johnston in the special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on August 3, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Pearson (D) | 94.0 | 2,439 |
| Jeff Johnston (Independent) | 6.0 | 157 | ||
| Total votes: 2,596 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Justin Pearson defeated David Page in the special Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on June 15, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Pearson | 94.6 | 2,210 |
| David Page | 5.4 | 125 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 2,336 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
No Republican candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Francis Currie (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Pearson in this election.
March 14 special election
See also: Tennessee state legislative special elections, 2023
General election
Special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
Justin Pearson won election in the special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on March 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Pearson (D) | 100.0 | 443 |
| Total votes: 443 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86
The following candidates ran in the special Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 on January 24, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Pearson | 52.4 | 1,235 |
| Julian Bolton | 12.3 | 289 | ||
 | Will Richardson | 8.1 | 190 | |
| Juliette Eskridge | 7.0 | 166 | ||
| Clifford Lewis | 5.3 | 126 | ||
| Tanya L. Cooper | 4.6 | 109 | ||
| Rod Blount | 4.4 | 103 | ||
 | Dominique Frost | 4.0 | 95 | |
| Andrew Withers | 1.5 | 35 | ||
| Rebecca Robinson | 0.5 | 11 | ||
| Total votes: 2,359 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Michael Porter (D)
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2024
Justin Pearson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2023
August 3 special election
Justin Pearson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
March 14 special election
Justin Pearson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 9. Special sessions occurred May 13, 2024; June 18 to July 1; and July 18, 2024.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to February 25.
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Noteworthy events
Resolutions to expel representatives
On Monday, April 3, 2023, Rep. Bud Hulsey (R), Rep. Gino Bulso (R), and Rep. Andrew Farmer (R) introduced three resolutions to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson (D), Rep. Justin Jones (D), and Rep. Justin Pearson (D) from the Tennessee House of Representatives. The resolutions stated that Johnson, Jones, and Pearson had engaged in “disorderly behavior” and “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives” after they participated in protests on March 30, 2023 in support of gun control laws.[5]
On April 6, 2023, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted 72-25 and 69-26 on House resolutions 65 and 63 to expel Representatives Justin Jones (Tennessee state representative) (D) and Justin Pearson (D). House resolution 64 to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson (D) failed to pass at 65 ayes and 30 nays.
On April 10, 2023, the Metropolitan Nashville Council voted 36-0 to reinstate Jones. On April 12, the Shelby County Commission will voted to reinstate Pearson.[6][7][8]
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 |
Officeholder Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Commercial Appeal, "Justin J. Pearson wins special election to fill House District 86 seat," January 24, 2023
- ↑ The Hill, "Justin Pearson reinstated to Tennessee state House after expulsion," accessed April 12, 2023
- ↑ Tennessee General Assembly, "Representative Justin J. Pearson," accessed May 1, 2023
- ↑ Justin J. Pearson for State Representative, "About Justin," accessed May 1, 2023
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Tennessee GOP begins expulsion process for 3 Democrats, House session devolves into chaos," accessed April 4, 2023
- ↑ The New York Times, "Nashville Council Votes to Return Expelled Lawmaker to House," April 10, 2023
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Nashville council votes to reinstate Black Tennessee lawmaker," April 10, 2023
- ↑ The Hill, "Justin Pearson reinstated to Tennessee state House after expulsion," accessed April 12, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Justin Pearson (D) |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Justin Pearson (D) |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 2023-2023 |
Succeeded by Justin Pearson (D) |
| Preceded by Justin Pearson (D) |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 2023-2023 |
Succeeded by Justin Pearson (D) |
| Preceded by Barbara Cooper (D) |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 2023-2023 |
Succeeded by Justin Pearson (D) |
