Republican candidate Laura Nelson challenged the qualifying signatures submitted by State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) on Friday, which if successful, would remove the controversial Tennessee Three member from the ballot.
With 25 signatures required to qualify for reelection, Jones reportedly turned in 26 signatures to election officials. One was then disqualified, with WSMV 4 reporting the signer was determined not to live in the district, which currently leaves Jones with just the 25 signatures required.
Nelson, the First Vice Chairwoman of the Davidson County Republican Party, previously ran against Jones in 2023, when Jones sought to be elected back to his seat after being ejected by the House of Representatives due to his participation in a gun control riot.
He was expelled alongside Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), but the General Assembly did not vote to expel a third member, Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville). The three Democrats have been branded the Tennessee Three.
Jones was ultimately returned to the General Assembly with the support of 77.8 percent of voters in the special election, with Nelson capturing 23 percent of the vote. Jones won his initial election in 2020 with 72 percent of the vote.
Should her challenge against Jones’ signatures prove successful, Nelson would become the only candidate for Tennessee’s heavily Democratic 52nd House district in November.
The Tennessee Star did not receive a response from Nelson or Davidson County elections administrator Jeff Roberts about the nature of the challenge.
Roberts previously told WSMV 4, “Nelson has not identified which signatures they are challenging or why,” and confirmed to Nashville Banner his office told Nelson’s campaign “that they need to be more specific about what they want to challenge.”
He additionally told the Banner that a decision about the challenge could be made before the May 3 meeting of the Davidson County Election Commission.
The challenge to Jones’ candidacy comes as Jones appears to suffer from strained relations with his Democratic colleagues.
In a now-deleted post to the social media platform X, the lawmaker wrote that House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) “has bought and paid for” members of Democratic leadership in the State House.
“He directs their silence and performance based on what’s best for him,” claimed Jones of Sexton in his deleted post. He further asserted that Democrats pose “no real challenge” to Republicans’ power because of Democratic “complicity” in a scheme that “has aided in the destruction of our state.”
That outburst followed a February disagreement with Jones that led to the suspension of a staffer for State Representative Torrey Harris (D-Memphis) until the conclusion of the legislative session.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “State Rep Justin Jones” by State Rep Justin Jones.
