Former Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson speaks. WZTV. CNN.

Contributor: Phil Lewis of What I’m Reading

I spoke with former Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson before he hopped on a plane to Nashville to stand with state Rep. Justin Jones, who was reinstated to the state House of Representatives Monday.

For HuffPost, we talked about how he was shocked but not surprised at reports that legislators have threatened local officials with funding cuts if he is reinstated to the Tennessee House.

 “I think that it is appalling that leaders in Nashville would actually threaten other elected officials in Shelby County with the removal of funds from our county if they follow the Democratic process of reappointment,” he told me. “It is a testament to the type of culture that we’ve been dealing with, with the supermajority of the Republican legislature in Tennessee.” 

The vote to reappoint Pearson will take place on Wednesday.