Justin Pearson, who gained national prominence for protesting and for being targeted by Republicans in Tennessee, has won the Democratic primary for that state’s main Democratic district. However, Pearson now faces a changed political landscape after the state’s GOP carved up the previously Black-dominated district, part of a wave of racial gerrymandering allowed by the Supreme Court.
Pearson wins Democratic primary, vows to ‘refuse to be turned around’ by redistricting
On Thursday, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson has been declared the winner of this week’s U.S. House of Representatives Democratic primary for the 9th District. Pearson won the primary for the 9th District, which has been significantly redrawn by Republican-led gerrymandering, against several other Democratic challengers, including State Sen. London Lamar, an activist M. LaTroy Alexandria-Williams and Dr. Jim Torino, a former healthcare executive. The crowded field seeks to replace long-term Rep. Steve Cohen, who announced his retirement from Congress after the 9th District lines were redrawn. Pearson campaigned on issues such as increasing gun restrictions, a topic for which he became nationally known, as well as voting rights, economic growth and environmental justice. He secured endorsements from well-known progressive members of Congress including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The victory is the latest step in Pearson’s political rise. Pearson, along with fellow Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones, rose to national prominence when Republicans expelled them from the Tennessee state legislature for staging a protest within the legislative chamber over gun control legislation, despite the fact that their white female colleague was not kicked out for participating in the same protest. The move backfired for the Tennessee GOP, which was accused of racism for targeting the two young Black men, and Pearson and Jones soon won their seats back with overwhelming victories in special elections. Pearson spoke to his supporters Thursday, noting that his victory was declared exactly 61 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law. Pearson cited both a long list of past attacks against Black people and Black rights, as well as current efforts like the redistricting effort that has diluted Black votes in the Memphis area. Despite these challenges, Pearson declared that Black activists “refused to be turned around” by violence and oppression and charged his supporters “we’ve got to refuse to be turned around.”
GOP-led racial gerrymandering carved up Memphis, disadvantaging Democrats
As Blavity previously reported, Pearson launched his primary challenge against Democratic incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen in October, 2025. Pearson framed himself as a progressive outsider running against a long-term establishment politician, a narrative that has since played out in other Democratic primary races across the country. At the time Pearson entered the race, the 9th District was a predominantly Black district representing the Memphis area and was the only Democratic district in the state. However, following a Supreme Court decision that endorsed Republicans’ moves to eliminate a predominantly Black district in Louisiana, Republicans across the South engaged in a wave of racial gerrymandering.
In Tennessee, this meant dividing up the area previously assigned to the 9th District, diluting Black voting power across three separate districts, all of which now favor the GOP. Rep. Steve Cohen decided to drop his reelection bid after the redistricting, opening up the seat for Democrats like Pearson. However, the redrawn political map now favors GOP State Sen. Brent Taylor, who won Tuesday’s Republican primary for the 9th District. Taylor has been endorsed by President Trump and by the state’s two Republican senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and he has framed his campaign as protecting Trump from being impeached by Pearson and other Democrats if the Democratic Party wins control of the House.
Even as a progressive wave sweeps across the Democratic Party, Republican redistricting in states like Tennessee has made the political playing field more difficult for Democrats and spread thin the power of Black voters. Pearson, who has fought targeted attacks by the Tennessee state GOP to rise to his current level of prominence, now faces a structural attack that has shifted the 9th District from a safe Democratic congressional seat to one that will be much harder to win.