'The people have spoken': Sen. Raphael Warnock wins reelection in Georgia Senate runoff race

Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock has won the state’s runoff election, defeating Republican Herschel Walker in one of the most hard-fought campaigns of 2022. Warnock is the state’s first Black senator and senior pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Originally elected last year in a special election to replace retired GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson, he has now been chosen to serve a full six-year term in the Senate.

Video Transcript

RAPHAEL WARNOCK: It is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy-- the people have spoken.

I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children. Voting is faith put into action. And, Georgia, you have been praying with your lips and your legs, with your hands and your feet, your heads and your hearts. You have put in the hard work, and here we are standing together.

Georgia, I don't want you to miss what you've done. In a moment in which there were folk trying to divide our country, and those forces are very much at work right now, 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, George!

After a hard-fought campaign, you've got me for six more years.