MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee state representative has been appointed to temporarily replace a Democratic lawmaker who was ousted from her position by the Republican-led state Senate because of a federal wire fraud conviction.
The Shelby County Commission in Memphis chose state Rep. London Lamar to fill the state Senate seat formerly held by Katrina Robinson during an hours-long meeting Thursday that featured several votes.
Robinson was ousted from her position by fellow senators during a Feb. 2 session. Lamar will step down from her House seat and serve on an interim basis in the Senate until the Nov. 8 election. Commissioners will select a replacement for Lamar's House seat at a later date.
Lamar, who is a Democrat like Robinson, has represented a Memphis district in the state House since 2018. Both Robinson and Lamar are Black women, and Senate District 33 is majority Black.
“It has been my life’s joy to serve as State Representative," Lamar said on Twitter. She added: ”I look forward to continuing the work."
The criminal case against Robinson, who was elected in 2018, involved federal grant money at a school for health care school workers she operated in the city before she was elected to the Senate.
Prosecutors accused Robinson of paying personal expenses from more than $600,000 in federal grant money awarded to a school for health care workers she operated. She was ultimately convicted of two of the 20 counts, involving $3,400 in wedding expenses in 2016.
Robinson faces sentencing on March 18 in Memphis federal court.
Before the 27-5 vote to remove her in February, Robinson argued that she had been unfairly judged by the white-majority Senate. She called it a “procedural lynching,” prompting cheers of support that the Republican speaker gaveled down. Some of her supporters in the gallery were in tears and others stood in solidarity.
It was the first time the chamber had removed a senator since at least the Civil War. Tennessee’s state law and Constitution contain provisions that disqualify people convicted of felonies from eligibility to hold public office. Democrats said the judgment against Robinson wasn’t final until sentencing and her case could prove a “slippery slope” to seek removal on alleged behavior that preceded a lawmaker’s election and time in office.
Sen. John Stevens, a Republican from Huntington, said during the February session that Robinson had been judged in a courtroom by her fellow citizens who determined she violated a criminal statute. GOP senators outnumbered Democrats 27-6 before the expulsion.
Commissioners held several votes and failed to reach a majority among a handful of candidates, including state Rep. Torrey Harris of Memphis, before selecting Lamar late Thursday.