After appeal, Tennessee Democrats reaffirm decision to kick DeBerry off the primary ballot

Corinne S Kennedy
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Rep. John DeBerry, D-Memphis, left, speaks during the debate to override Gov. Bill Haslam's veto of a bill seeking to make the Bible the state's official book, Wednesday, April 20, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. The House voted not to override the veto.

Rep. John DeBerry will not be on the Democratic primary ballot in August for the first time in almost 30 years. 

The Tennessee Democratic Party State Executive Committee voted last week to remove DeBerry from the Aug. 6 primary ballot and on Wednesday reaffirmed that decision after an appeal proceeding in a 40-21 vote with one abstention. The decision came after years of accusations from Democrats that DeBerry did not have the best interests of the party at heart and that he was too cozy with Republicans and GOP donors. 

DeBerry, who represents District 90 in Memphis — which weaves from north of Interstate 40, through Vollintine Evergreen and into South Memphis — said before the vote it should be up to the voters of his district to decide if he no longer represented their interests and the interests of the Democratic party. 

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“I know who I am and what I have been and the example I have been in my district,” he said. “This is why the folks in my district, who are very aware of who I am and what my beliefs are and what my record is, have elected me 13 times.”

DeBerry said he brought experience working across the aisle and that since 1995 he had been clear about many of his socially conservative values while supporting other Democratic causes 

John DeBerry Jr.

“I passed laws on racial profiling, identity theft and I could go on and on and on...during the income tax battle I was there," he said. "I come before you not in defense of my record but demanding that you look at it, that you look at it in total, that you look at my character."

Rep. Mike Stewart, Chair of the State House Democratic Caucus, agreed with DeBerry's argument that a Democratic primary, not the executive committee, was the place to address ideological concerns. 

“Democracy should always err on the side of giving people the right to make these decisions,” he said. 

However, the majority of the committee vociferously opposed the representative’s appeal and the bulk of the discussion was a recitation of DeBerry’s perceived sins against the party. 

Hendrell Remus, Vice-Chair of Tennessee Young Democrats, and Brandon Thomas, state Executive Committeeman for Senate District 13, both said that as black men, they were disappointed by comments DeBerry had made that the challenge to his candidacy was being made “by people who don’t look like us.”

Thomas said that the Democratic party had changed since DeBerry was first elected and that he no longer represented the party’s values, as evidenced by his recent voting record. Remus said DeBerrd had become more conservative over time and asked his colleagues to “have courage and do the right thing” to remove DeBerry.

Katharine Heriges broke from her colleagues slightly to say she would vote for DeBerry to be returned to the ballot solely because she wanted him to lose in the primary and see that his views did not represent the party.

Sen. Raumesh Akbari provided one of the strongest defenses of DeBerry’s appeal — despite her many divergences from him on policy issues — and firmly pushed back against comments by committee members that District 90 primary voters should not be able to decide whether DeBerry is a Democrat because of low voter turnout or a perceived lack of voter education.

“You do not get to decide how a particular district votes. They do,” she said. “We do not get to decide whose district is conservative and whose isn't and who gets to run as a Democrat.”

Akbari also said that DeBerry had always been clear about his policy positions and that if the party ever wanted to gain more seats in the legislature, it would have to broaden the tent and start to embrace conservative Democrats. 

Julia Bruck, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office, said that DeBerry’s only further option to appeal would be a legal challenge to the process.

After he was removed from the ballot, Tennessee Democratic Party spokesperson Emily Cupples said DeBerry did not represent the party’s values and that he “was not faithful to the interests and success of the Democratic Party.”

An almost 30-page challenge issued against DeBerry castigated him for donating to and accepting donations from Republicans, failing to support Democratic bills or issues and voting with Republicans in recent years. 

DeBerry said he had long opposed abortion and supported school choice and that the Democratic party, not him, had changed its values. In an interview after the vote to remove him from the ballot, he said the party was no longer inclusive and that being a Democrat in Tennessee had become “all about thinking with one brain, marching in step and following the company line, sitting there like a brainless idiot and letting them tell you what to do.”

While he has not been the only Democrat to vote with the GOP in recent years — two others voted for a bill to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat has been detected and to elect former House Speaker Glen Casada to the body’s top leadership post — he has drawn the ire of the party and progressive organizations, including Planned Parenthood. 

DeBerry was the only incumbent Democrat that the party voted to remove from the primary ballot. While he will not be able to file to run for his seat with a different party in 2020, DeBerry said he would consider running for the District 90 seat as an Independent or Republican in the future.

Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for the Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com or on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy