State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) announced Tuesday morning that she will challenge Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and immediately politicized the deaths of six people killed at The Covenant School in Nashville in a March mass shooting.
In an announcement video posted to her Twitter account, Johnson referred to those who oppose gun control as “bullies” and “cowards,” along with several references to The Covenant School shooting.
There is a movement afoot in Tennessee. Now I'm running for US Senate because our work doesn't stop here. Join us. pic.twitter.com/6XKFLuRfkc
— Rep. Gloria Johnson (@VoteGloriaJ) September 5, 2023
In the video, Johnson claims she is “not a politician” despite holding elected office in the Tennessee General Assembly.
“Those politicians, they don’t like me much,” she said. “And when it’s bullsh*t, I call it bullsh*t.”
Noting in the video that she is six foot three inches tall, Johnson said she was not afraid to stand up to Blackburn.
In a text message to potential supporters, Johnson harped on The Covenant School shooting:
I’m running for Senate because Tennesseans deserve better. Period.
Thousands of Tennesseans descended on the state Capitol to demand action on gun violence prevention, but the GOP majority refused to hear them. So two of my colleagues and I stood up to join their historic protest. We couldn’t let the Covenant families, young people, & parents from across the state stand alone.
The GOP majority took quick action, but not to prevent gun violence. Both my colleagues, Justin J. Pearson & Justin Jones, were expelled. I was spared. Then the GOP majority passed a new law to increase access to guns.
MAGA Republicans in Nashville & DC don’t give a damn about everyday Tennesseans.
Shortly after the shooting at The Covenant School, carried out by Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender, Johnson, along with Pearson and Jones, led a riot at the State Capitol that was foiled by Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers.
A motive for the shooting has still not been established, and Hale’s manifesto has still not been released, despite federal and state lawsuits by The Tennessee Star and others.
But the event has been used as a political springboard for Democrats in the state, including Johnson, who have raised their political profiles through riots, protests, and during the August special session of the General Assembly.
Blackburn’s campaign quickly responded to the announcement.
“It’s no surprise that radical socialist Gloria Johnson decided to jump into the race at the urging of liberals in Washington, joining Marquita Bradshaw and others in the race for the Democratic nomination. State Rep. Johnson is as woke as they come, and she would be a puppet for Joe Biden, the Squad, and Chuck Schumer in the Senate,” said a statement from Blackburn campaign spokesperson Abigail Sigler. “While Senator Blackburn is working hard to fight back against Biden’s woke agenda, State Rep. Johnson is pushing that divisive, destructive agenda here in Tennessee. Tennesseans deserve a United States Senator who is committed to fighting for our conservative values. Senator Blackburn will continue her record of getting things done and fighting for Tennessee families.”
Environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw is also a Democrat candidate for the seat.
She ran for U.S. Senate in 2020 against Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), defeating four other primary candidates but losing in the general election. She garnered only 35.5 percent of the vote.
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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.
I can’t stand Marsha Blackburn and will likely vote against her in the Republican primary. She’s a RINO and a career politician; she needs to go. But this ridiculous Dem pig won’t be elected in very bloody red East Tennessee. And this issue is not popular there. Even considering the gun control legislation has gotten the VERY popular Governor Lee in hot water.
Johnson is a pig and her ridiculous made for MSNBC story about her dad being a FBI agent who fought evil white people is fodder for the gullible female vote and “Democracy”” morons. It’s unfortunate we have an incumbent who is only capable of chewing on corn nuts and blabbering about soshilists and being woke.
This slob will never represent me.
Over half of gun deaths in Tennessee are due to suicide. Roughly half of the remaining (25% of overall) deaths occur in Memphis/Shelby County. Nashville accounts for roughly another 10% of overall gun deaths. That leaves 15% for the other 93 counties. It is somewhere around 250 people per year in those other counties combined. Homicides are far down the list in causes of death in those counties, well behind heart disease, accidents, etc. But when the data is presented in “per 100,000 people” units, 1 death in your small counties (that have far less than 100,000 residents) makes them look “comparable” to hundreds of deaths in Memphis. Same scam as the percentage positive covid test data Lockdown Lee used. E.g. “OMG, Rural County is 25% positive for covid! Status Red!” They only tested 20 people all week…so only 5 actual infections…the sky isn’t falling.
Gloria Johnson has been bullying children and parents for more than thirty years. Her greatest accomplishment has been to make a spectacle of the legislative process and bully two young men into violating the rules of the Tennessee House of Representatives while she stepped back quietly over the line. Her tenure as a representative has yielded nothing for the district she is suppose to serve. Pandering, bullying, lying are her three best attributes. It’s all about Gloria and her personal gain in popularity among those who seek to destroy. Hatred has no place in the public square.
she looks like she is melting