GA SENATE: Raphael Warnock (D)
The Rev. Raphael Warnock grew up in Kayton Homes public housing in Savannah, Georgia, in a family that was short on money, but, he likes to say, “long on faith, love and humor.”
Warnock’s father was a veteran, a small businessman, and a preacher. He spent the week hauling old cars to the local steel yard, and on Sundays he preached at a local church. His mother grew up in nearby Waycross, Georgia, where she spent summers picking tobacco and cotton, and still lives in Savannah today.
When he enrolled at Morehouse College, Warnock didn’t know how he would pay the full tuition. With the help of low-interest student loans and Pell Grants, Warnock graduated, earned a Ph.D., and was ordained in the ministry. He was chosen to serve as Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the former pulpit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He was the youngest pastor selected to serve in that leadership role at the historic church.
Warnock was elected to the U.S. Senate in the Jan. 5, 2021, special election runoff, and took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2021.
Sen. Warnock is a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management and Trade, as well as the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, where he chairs the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection subcommittee; Warnock also serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Senate Aging Committee, and the bicameral Joint Economic Committee.
The biographical information above was sourced from the campaign website; see links above for more information.
