In April 2023, moments after being reinstated to his office in the Tennessee legislature after Republicans booted him in retaliation for his gun control activism, Justin J. Pearson told reporters that despite their best efforts: “You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel our fight.”

Two years later, Pearson is looking to leave the Tennessee House on his own terms, announcing Wednesday that he’s challenging longtime Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen for his seat in the U.S. House, representing Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.

“This is my home and I have always wanted to serve this community,” Pearson tells Rolling Stone. “Now is our moment in time to fight for the change that we want to see, and fight for the future that we know we deserve.”

“[Cohen] has been at it for 20 years,

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