Squeezed by GOP redistricting, state Rep. Gloria Johnson will move to new District 90
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When Tennessee's GOP-led state Senate voted to combine Knoxville’s two Democratic-leaning state House districts, they effectively carved State Rep. Gloria Johnson’s home out of the district she represents. Instead of taking her ball and going home, she decided she would simply move.
Johnson, D-Knoxville, announced last last week her candidacy for the newly created District 90. It's something she had been planning for a while.
“The supermajority in Nashville drew a ridiculous, partisan gerrymander to take my house out of the district I represent,” she said in a statement Friday. “They don’t want me in the House because they know I stand up for our community against their neglect and abuse of power. They have never been able to silence the truth and they will not succeed this time either.”
Johnson had already promised not to run against Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, the region’s lone Black representative in the General Assembly, so a move into the new District 90 made the most sense.
Much of her current District 13 will be part of the newly drawn District 90, and Johnson will likely be favored there this fall. Last week, Johnson told Knox News some of the homes she was considering in the new district were within a mile of her current house.
The decision came quickly. The Senate voted along party lines last week to push Johnson and McKenzie together into a reconfigured District 15. The final map now awaits Republican Gov. Bill Lee's approval, which is a near certainty.
The new districts were created by Republicans under the once-a-decade redistricting process will significantly damage Democrats' ability to win state legislative seats.
Georgiana Vines: Tennessee redistricting bill leads to complaints of gerrymandering
Knox News reporter Ryan Wilusz contributed to this report.
Tyler Whetstone is a Knox News politics reporter focusing on Knoxville and Knox County.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: State Rep. Gloria Johnson will move, run in newly created District 90
