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Tennessee Goddamn
What did they do?
On April 6, the Tennessee House kicked out two members. The expulsions are pure political theater; they will have no effect on anything in the state’s government. In Tennessee, if a vacancy arises in the House, an interim representative is appointed by the County Commission for the county in which the vacancy occurs. Both of the representatives expelled come from counties controlled by Democrats. The most likely result of their expulsions is that they themselves will be appointed by their County Commissions to fill their own seats. So, in terms of representation at least, no harm no foul.
A third representative was also the subject of an expulsion vote. To the surprise of some, she was not expelled. That’s part of the show. She had to be spared, because her County Commission is controlled by Republicans, who would be expected to appoint a Republican to fill her seat if she were ousted. If, as I believe, the purpose of the expulsions was not to mess with the party allocation resulting from the 2022 election, it makes perfect sense for the Republicans to spare the one representative from a Republican county. But because changing the voting balance was not the purpose of the show, she was not kicked out, and her County Commission was not put in the awkward position of having to name an interim…