WASHINGTON — Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, who rose to national prominence after his expulsion from the state House over a gun control protest launched a bid for Congress on Wednesday, challenging longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen.

Pearson’s announcement is part of a larger trend of younger Democrats around the nation challenging older incumbents. Tennessee’s 9th District, which covers parts of Memphis and its surrounding suburbs, is a safe Democratic seat, so the primary next August will likely determine the district’s next House member.

“Now I am ready to fight for us in the United States Congress,” Pearson, 30, said in his campaign launch video. “The U.S. House of Representatives must be centered on us.”

Cohen, 76, is currently serving his 10th term in Congress and his fifth decade in elective office. He spent more than 20 years in the Tennessee Senate prior to his first election to the House in 2006.

The lone white House member to represent a majority-Black district, Cohen has handily defeated several high-profile Black challengers in past primaries.

But none had the national exposure that Pearson, who is Black, gained in 2023, when he and two other Democratic state legislators took over the floor of the Tennessee House to call for stricter gun laws after a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville. Pearson and one other legislator, Justin Jones, were briefly expelled from the body, while the third, Gloria Johnson, narrowly avoided expulsion by one vote.

The trio, who became known as the “Tennessee Three,” ended up raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Pearson and Jones were quickly reappointed to their seats and later won special elections to retain them.

Pearson isn’t the first member of the trio to run for Congress. Johnson challenged Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn last year in the deep-red state but lost by 30 points; however, she was simultaneously reelected unopposed to her Knoxville-area state House seat.

Pearson begins his campaign for Congress with the backing of Justice Democrats, the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group that has supported progressives such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Leaders We Deserve, which is focused on electing younger Democrats, said it would invest $1 million into supporting Pearson’s candidacy.

“Memphis deserves a next-generation leader like Justin — a tested fighter who will deliver opportunity, affordability, safety, and justice to his constituents,” David Hogg, the group’s co-founder and a former Democratic National Committee vice chair, said in a statement.

Responding to Pearson’s announcement, Cohen expressed confidence that he’d emerge successful from the primary, noting that his previous success in intraparty contests.

“I’ve been challenged by a mayor who served for 18 years and several bright up-and-comers who were predicted to be the next big thing. None of my primary challengers has ever won a single precinct,” he said in a statement. “I have earned — and received — broad support in our community that transcends race, age, and neighborhood. I look forward to doing so again.”

Ahead of what could be an expensive primary fight, federal filings show Cohen had $1.8 million in the bank at the end of June.

Ryan Kelly contributed to this report.

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