Memphis lawmaker says he was ousted because he refused to be ‘brainless idiot’ for Democratic Party

Corinne S Kennedy
Memphis Commercial Appeal

A day after the Tennessee Democratic Party voted to remove Memphis Rep. John DeBerry from the party's Aug. 6 primary ballot, the legislator hit back at the party, saying it no longer valued a diversity of ideas.

“The so-called party of inclusion is everything but inclusive. It’s 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,” he said in an interview Thursday morning. 

In recent years, DeBerry, who represents District 90 — a gerrymandered district that weaves from north of Interstate 40, through parts of Volllintine Evergreen and into South Memphis — has come under fire from Tennessee Democrats for voting with Republicans on issues including abortion and school choice.

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John DeBerry Jr.

He was also lambasted by party activists for receiving donations from organizations that typically donate to Republicans. 

DeBerry pushed back against the idea that working across the aisle was a party sin, saying that the math in the legislature meant passing any Democratic bill would require a significant number of Republican votes.

State Democratic Party spokesperson Emily Cupples said the challenge filed against DeBerry which led to his removal from the ballot included complaints that he had donated to GOP candidates, that the majority of his donations came from Republican political action committees or individuals and that he did not support expanding voting rights through registration drives and making voting by mail univer

"The almost 30-page challenge against Rep. DeBerry included complaints about his record of public service and actions and demonstrated that he was not faithful to the interests and success of the Democratic Party," she said. "If John DeBerry were a first-time candidate and he had a majority of Republican endorsements paired with this platform that clearly does not align with the Democratic Party values, he would have been removed from the ballot just the same."

He has not been the only Democrat to vote with the GOP. He was one of three who voted to elect former House Speaker Glen Casada to the chamber's top leadership post last year and two other Democrats also voted for a bill banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

DeBerry, an ordained Church of Christ minister, has been opposed to abortion his entire legislative career and in 2019 said he believed a lack of "personal responsibility" was a contributor to the number of abortions. He said Thursday that his values — passed on from his parents — had not changed since he was first elected 26 years ago. He scorned the party for kicking him off the ballot for not aligning with party values, saying he believed he still represented the values of his constituents. 

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.

"They changed their values, they changed their values and demanded everyone acquiesce,” DeBerry said of the party. “That’s not democracy. They don't have the right to tell a sitting legislator how to vote.”

He also protested how he was removed from the ballot. The party's primary board meetings are subject to the open meetings act, but the meeting was not publicly noticed.

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“What happened yesterday was basically unprecedented,” he said. “Without notice, without warning, without time to garner a defense or allow people from my district to make any type of comment, I was removed by a tribunal.” 

Cupples claimed the meeting did not have to be noticed due to Gov. Bill Lee's executive order relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Although Lee's order relaxed regulations around public meetings — allowing some to be held virually, for example — public notification of meetings is still required. The meeting was open to the public and the media.

DeBerry was one of five Democrats that the primary board removed from ballots Wednesday. William Frazier, who had filed to run for the State House District 84 seat, Tharon Chandler, who filed to run for a U.S. Senate seat and M. Latroy Alexandria-Williams, who filed to run for the Tennessee 9th Congressional District seat were removed by a vote of the board. Michael Minnis, who filed to run for the Tennessee State House District 93 seat, was removed without a vote of the board.

He was the only incumbent removed from the primary ballots. 

The vote on DeBerry by the executive committee was 41 to 18 with two abstentions. He did not rule out a future run for the District 90 seat as an Independent or Republican. 

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