NASHVILLE, Tenn. (NEWSnet/AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, two of the Democrats in the “Tennessee Three,” reclaimed their seats by election Thursday after they were expelled for participating in a protest on the House floor.

While the two lawmakers were reinstated by local officials after being booted from the GOP-dominated Statehouse, that was only on an interim basis. A special election took place Thursday in which they reclaimed their positions. Both faced opponents on the ballot, but easily defeated them according to unofficial results from the Tennessee Secretary of State's office.

Jones, who lives in Nashville, was up against Republican candidate Laura Nelson. Meanwhile, Pearson, from Memphis, faced independent candidate Jeff Johnston.

Thursday’s election came as lawmakers are preparing to return to Nashville later this month for a special session to address possibly changing the state’s gun control laws. While Jones and Pearson’s reelection to their old posts won’t make a significant impact on Republican supermajority inside the Legislature, they are expected to push back heavily against some of GOP-favored policies.

Jones and Pearson were elected to the Statehouse last year. This spring, they joined fellow Democrat Rep. Gloria Johnson in a protest on the House floor calling for more gun control.

The demonstration took place after a fatal shooting in Nashville at a private Christian school where a shooter killed three children and three adults. As thousands of protesters flooded the Capitol building to demand some sort of restrictions on firearms, the three lawmakers approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn, and joined the protesters’ chants and cries.

Republican lawmakers quickly declared that their actions violated House rules and moved to expel the three colleagues — an extraordinary move that’s been done only rarely since the Civil War.

Ultimately, Johnson, who is white, narrowly avoided expulsion, while Pearson and Jones, who are Black, were removed by the predominantly white GOP caucus.

The expulsions drew national support for the newly dubbed “Tennessee Three.”

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