Rep. John DeBerry, formerly a Democrat, says he is filing to run as an independent

Rep. John DeBerry, the longtime Memphis Democrat who was ousted from the party this spring, says he will file to run as an independent now that the legislature has amended election rules to allow him to do so.

DeBerry, who had filed on time to run as a Democrat and received the necessary petition signatures, was subsequently removed from the ballot after the Tennessee Democratic Party's executive committee voted to disqualify him from the ballot.

The statewide committee took issue with DeBerry's voting record, which often aligned with Republicans on issues such as abortion and school choice, and his history of accepting donations from GOP-aligned political action committees. Its vote to remove him from the ballot came after the filing deadline had passed, preventing DeBerry from filing again under another party.

"My colleagues have encouraged me, the folks in my district have encouraged me," DeBerry said of his decision to run on a different ballot. "They feel violated, and for that reason, I'm going to file as an independent."

Read more: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/15/tennessee-rep-john-deberry-says-he-run-independent/3191974001/
(Memphis Commercial Appeal)