ATLANTA, Ga. – After winning his Senate runoff election in Georgia, Senator-elect Raphael Warnock delivered a victory speech that honored his mother in a touching way.
Warnock released a video of his speech after defeating incumbent Kelly Loeffler on Tuesday. In the clip, the 51-year-old pastor reflected on how things have progressed in his state over the past few decades.
Warnock said his mother grew up picking somebody else’s cotton in the Jim Crow South, but now her son is becoming the first Black senator in Georgia.
“The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton, went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator,” said Warnock. “So, I come before you tonight as a man knows that the improbable journey that led me to this place in this historic moment in America could only happen here.”
As a Black teenager growing up in Waycross, GA in the 1950s, my mom used to pick somebody else's cotton. Today, those 82 year old hands picked her son to be a United States Senator from Georgia. God bless her, and God bless America. pic.twitter.com/8nb9Jn2qqS
— Senator-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) December 17, 2020
Before running for Senate, Warnock spent 15 years leading the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. He told “CBS This Morning” that he grew up in public housing as one of 12 children and he was the first college graduate in his family.
Warnock said he hopes his story can be an inspiration to young people who are trying to grab hold of the American dream.
His win and Jon Ossoff’s victory in the other Georgia runoff will give Democrats control of the U.S. Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes.
