[FLASHBACK] Member of 'Tennessee Three' launches congressional bid as progressive challengers push Democrats

ABC News ^ | 10/8/25 | Beatrice Peterson

[cotton1706]

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, a 30-year-old progressive activist and lawmaker who gained national attention as one of the "Tennessee Three," is launching a primary challenge against longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen.

Pearson's campaign, framed around the slogan "It's About Us," highlights Memphis's 22.6% poverty rate -- nearly double the state average -- and pledges "urgent solutions to persistent crises" in Tennessee's only Democratic congressional district.

Pearson's bid is part of a broader wave of intraparty contests pitting younger progressives against long-established incumbents.

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KEYWORDS: elections

[cotton1706]

You know this guy is SOOOO pissed that Republicans in Tennessee redistricted his expected seat out of existence.

Let him run and see if his radical leftist views will be popular among the people in the newly formed district where he resides.

He fully expected to succeed Cohen (who is 77) even if he didn't take him out in the primary.

He thinks he's the new Malcolm X. He's a total phony.

[cotton1706]

[MtnClimber]

Instead of the slogan "It's About Us".

The slogan should be:

It is your own fault.

[Palmettojones]

That Pearson cat in Tenn. is a disgrace to my home of Memphis, and to black folk. He is dumber than Tammy Duckworth https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/duck-that-trick

[xp38]

I’m old enough to recall the Tennessee Three was the backup band for Johnny Cash.

[The Antiyuppie]

All I have to say about Memphis is that I have never been happier than I was to see the highly visible police there.

[SharpRightTurn]

“Rep. Justin Pearson” - just another racial rabble-rousing troublemaker from Memphis. Pearson doesn’t have the “charm” of “the Rev.” Al Sharpton, but is probably in Al’s IQ range.