As the crowd erupted into chants of “six more years,” U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock took the stage at his runoff victory party to celebrate his triumph over Republican Herschel Walker.
“After a hard-fought campaign – or should I say campaigns – it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever uttered in a democracy: The people have spoken.”
The Democrat’s narrow victory over Walker marked the fifth time he was on a ballot since November 2020 – and the fifth time he finished in first place.
As he did in his 2021 runoff victory, he noted that his mother worked in the fields of rural southeast Georgia “picking someone else’s cotton and somebody else’s tobacco.”
“But tonight she helped pick her youngest son to be in the United States Senate,” he said.
He also referenced the historic nature of his victory, coming less than two years after he and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff swept runoffs that flipped control of the chamber.
“Georgia did an amazing thing. In 2021, it sent its first African American senator and its first Jewish senator to the United States Senate in one fell swoop. And you have done it again. Thank you, Georgia.”
As he closed out his speech, he pledged to continue his role as pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
“I will walk with you even as I work for you. Because here’s what I’ve learned as a pastor. You can’t lead the people unless you love the people. You can’t love the people unless you know the people. And you can’t know the people unless you walk among the people.”
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