A far-left Tennessee House of Representatives member won her primary election on Thursday and now faces an uphill battle against incumbent U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“Thank you, Tennessee. I am running for office to represent you, to fight for you, and make life easier for all who call Tennessee home. I have never felt more ready to fight for a Tennessee that works for all of us. Let’s do this!” said State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knovxille) when the primary results rolled in.
Thank you, Tennessee.
I am running for office to represent you, to fight for you, and make life easier for all who call Tennessee home.
I have never felt more ready to fight for a Tennessee that works for all of us.
Let's do this! pic.twitter.com/nf2ED0upKY
— Rep. Gloria Johnson (@VoteGloriaJ) August 2, 2024
Johnson, who battled with well-known candidate Marquita Bradshaw and two others, won 70 percent of the vote. She raised more than $3 million to Bradshaw’s $35,000.
Bradshaw was the Democratic Party nominee against Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in 2020, where despite gathering more than 1 million votes, lost by a margin of 33 percent.
According to polling from the Beacon Center, Johnson is headed toward the same fate.
In July, Blackburn held a commanding 20-point lead, 52 percent to Johnson’s 32 percent.
Johnson is a member of what has been dubbed the “Tennessee Three.” She, State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville), and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) faced expulsion from the General Assembly in 2023 due to their participation in an anti-gun riot at the Tennessee Capitol.
That riot occurred after the Covenant School shooting, while the trio demanded gun control.
Jones and Pearson were expelled, but Johnson narrowly avoided that fate.
Johnson holds many notable far-left policy views.
Earlier this year, she was the only member of the State House to vote against a bill that would give the death penalty to child rapists. That bill became law and took effect on July 1.
“Victims fear it will create a chilling effect on reporting, and some people, especially in family situations, will not report,” Johnson argued. “They’re also concerned about it revictimizing the victim every time an appeal comes up, they have to tell the story again.”
The bill’s sponsor, State Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland), rebuked that notion.
“The chilling effect this will have, again, let this message go out far and wide: If you rape a child in the State of Tennessee, then you will die,” he said. “If it saves even one child from going through that, if the fear of that gets in the head of some monster out there that’s even thinking about this, then it’s worth saving that child.”
Johnson is also linked to far-left gun control group Moms Demand Action and held a bus tour with that group demanding gun control before the August 2023 special session of the General Assembly.
Johnson also infamously once said that North Korea has more democracy than the State of Tennessee.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X / Twitter.
Photo “Gloria Johnson” by Gloria Johnson.
