Meet the Senator: Raphael Warnock
Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock
Determined Youth
Raphael Gamaliel Warnock was born in Savannah, Georgia on July 23, 1969 (senate.gov). Warnock grew up with his mother, father, and eleven siblings in Kayton Homes public housing. His father was a preacher, while his mother picked cotton and tobacco in the summers. The Warnock family struggled with money issues, but they were all raised that they could do anything they put their mind to, and that is exactly what Raphael did (warnockforgeorgia.com).
Doctor, Reverend, Senator
Raphael graduated from high school in 1987 and went straight to college. Raphael graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in psychology from Morehouse College in 1981, and furthered his education at Union Theological Seminary, where he received a Masters in Divinity, Masters in Philosophy, and, finally, his Doctorate in Philosophy (senate.gov).
Since 2005, Warnock has served as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the same pulpit Martin Luther King Jr. preached from. He is the fifth senior pastor to serve at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the youngest out of them all (warnockforgeorgia.com). Warnock's religious affiliation is Christian Baptist.
Pastor to Politician
How did Warnock go from pastor to politician? Warnock was never truly confined to either pastoral work or political action. His preaching over the past 16 years has not been straight out of the Bible, rather his sermons have taken loving your neighbor and fighting for democracy and mashed them together.
Warnock made himself known in the world of politics in 2014, when he was arrested at the Georgia Capitol when the state of Georgia refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (nbcnews.com). Warnock continued his activism by heading the New Georgia Project, a voter registration-focused organization up until 2020 (valdostatoday.com). He has had no previous elected experience before he gained his Senate seat in January 2021.
Tenure in the Senate
Warnock was elected to the Senate on January 5, 2021 after winning a special runoff election against former Senator Kelly Loeffler (senate.gov). He took his oath of office 15 days later on January 20, 2021 and was officially sworn into the 117th Congress (senate.gov). Warnock is up for reelection in November 2022.
Committees and Subcommittees
Senator Warnock serves on five committees and ten subcommittees:
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade
Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research
Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Local Food Systems, and Food Safety and Security
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation
Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband
Subcommittee on Space and Science
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight, and Ports
Joint Economic Committee
Special Committee on Aging
He is the chairman of both the Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection (senate.gov).
What's the Legislation Situation?
Since Senator Warnock took office, he has sponsored 60 pieces of legislation and cosponsored 274 pieces of legislation (congress.gov).
He was the primary sponsor of one bill that was enacted: "A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on disparities associated with race and ethnicity with respect to certain benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes," or more simply known as S. 1031 (congress.gov).
Warnock’s cosponsored legislation has had much more success, as he has cosponsored five bills which have become laws; these include the Willie O’Ree Congressional Medal Act, Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, FASTER ACT of 2021, Consider Teachers Act of 2021, and the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (congress.gov).
Other bold and notable pieces of legislation Warnock backed were the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 by 2025, and two voting rights bills, the For the People Act of 2021 and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 (congress.gov).
Interest Group Scores
As for interest groups, Warnock’s scorecard with each varies. Quite a few interest groups have given Warnock a sparkling 100%, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the Human Rights Campaign (thus far) (votesmart.org and hrc.org).
Warnock is not so lucky with conservative interest groups, usually getting a score of 0%, some include Heritage Action for America and the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) (votesmart.org).
Besides the extremes of 100 and 0, Warnock has also received 83% from the Humane Society Legislative Fund (hslf.org) and 67% from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) (votesmart.org).
Fun (and some not so fun) Facts!
Raphael Warnock is recently divorced and has two children (foxnews.com).
Warnock is Georgia’s first Black senator, as well as the 11th Black senator to get elected in the entirety of United States history (senate.gov).
Warnock has a book coming out in June 2022!
Here's a link to a funny campaign ad Warnock did: Raphael Warnock for US Senate - Georgia Runoff Puppy TV Ad #1- November 2020 "I love puppies"!
Warnock's sponsored and cosponsored legislation have covered the issues of health, armed forces and national security, and congress the most.
His Twitter has over one million followers!
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