“Georgia is in such an incredible place when you think of the arc of our history.”
In a highly contested, widely publicized run-off race for the senate, Democrat Raphael Warnock has defeated opponent Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler – becoming the first black senator in the state’s history.
“We were told that we couldn’t win this election,” said Warnock, “but tonight we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible.”
Warnock was born in Savannah, Georgia as one of 12 children. Growing up in Kayton Homes public housing, he was the first member of his family to graduate college. For the past 15 years, he has lead the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta – where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a co-pastor from 1960 to his death in 1968.
Warnock gained prominence as a political leader in his fight for affordable health care and voting rights.
“Georgia is in such an incredible place when you think of the arc of our history,” Warnock said on ABC’s Good Morning America. “This is the reversal of the old southern strategy that sought to divide people.”
The attention will now focus on the race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican incumbent David Perdue. As of this moment, the Associated Press has Jon Ossoff ahead by a margin of .4% – around 15,000 votes – with 98% of reported votes.
In Georgia, state law allows for trailing candidates to request a recount when the margin of victory is .5% or less.
A victory for Ossoff would cement a Democrat-controlled Congress and grant President Elect Joe Biden a better position moving into his presidency.
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