BURSTTennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson (D) -- one of two Democrats to face expulsion in 2023 over gun control protests held in the state House -- announced on Wednesday that he’s challenging Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) for his Memphis-based seat in the House next year, adding to a growing list of younger candidates challenging established incumbents.
“I believe we have to have a leader who is proximate, who understands the issues, who fights and who can stand up and speak up for us in this moment and in this time,” Pearson told The Hill in an interview ahead of his launch.
“Twenty years ago, that may have been Steve Cohen, but in this moment, things are different, and we have to operate and fight differently.”
Pearson gained notoriety alongside state Rep. Justin Jones (D) when the two men, who are both Black, were expelled in the Tennessee House in 2023 for breaking House rules while protesting about gun control in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Nashville. A third House lawmaker, state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D), who is white and also participated in the protests, did not get expelled.
Pearson and Jones were temporarily reinstated afterward before ultimately winning back their seats again.
Cohen easily trounced his primary challengers last year, with the closest runner-up, Corey Strong, trailing him by over 50 points. But this cycle could be different as Pearson, 30, launches the first bid on the Democratic side to unseat the 76-year-old incumbent.
Pearson told The Hill that he was “not going to make our campaign about age,” saying he’s voted for lawmakers much older than Cohen. But he argued the Tennessee congressman wasn’t meeting the moment now.
Pearson said that he had voted for his predecessor, the late Tennessee House Rep. Barbara Cooper, whom he noted was 93 years old, "because she had the energy, the spirit, the work ethic that helped to improve our community, and she was always proximate to the pain of what we were experiencing.”
“I don't think we have that right now,” he added.
In his first ad, he emphasized a campaign around “us,” adding later, “the U.S. House of Representatives must be centered on us. It's about understanding what it means to be one of us.” The ad notably does not mention Cohen.
Cohen has signaled he’s not concerned about being challenged in his primary. He told Axios last month that it would "be a mistake for somebody to run against me," adding that "whoever succeeds me will probably ... be somebody whom I choose to endorse."
Pearson enjoys a few early endorsements at the outset of his campaign, including from the progressive Justice Democrats and David Hogg’s political group Leaders We Deserve.
“Tennessee voters need more than Congressional letters and tweets — they need a Congressperson that will fight with every tool at their disposal to deliver real, tangible change with solutions as big as the crises we face,” Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement.
Leaders We Deserve also committed $1 million toward supporting his candidacy.
Hogg, in a statement, said he was “calling on Representative Steve Cohen to pass the torch” to the Tennessee state representative, whom he described as “a transformational leader who can inspire a new generation.”
Pearson is among a growing number of younger Democrats challenging older and established incumbents in the House, as calls for generational change and making way for new, younger voices within the party have increased.
The calls have been particularly pronounced in the wake of the 2024 election, when Democrats pressed former President Biden, 82, to drop out of the presidential race following a disastrous debate performance.
Former Vice President Harris won Cohen’s district by 43 percentage points, according to The Downballot, meaning whoever wins the Democratic primary in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District is the heavy favorite to win in the general election.