Raphael Gamaliel Warnock is an American pastor and politician serving as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta since 2005 and the junior United States senator from Georgia since 2021.
Advertisement
Warnock is a member of the Democratic Party, and he assumed office on January 20, 2021.
Warnock was the senior pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church until 2005, when he became senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Warnock rose to prominence in Georgia politics as a leading activist in the campaign to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
Warnock defeated incumbent Kelly Loeffler in the runoff in Georgia’s 2020–21 United States Senate special election on January 5, 2021.
The same day, fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff won the runoff for Georgia’s other Senate seat against Republican David Perdue.
Warnock and Ossoff are the first Democrats elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia since Zell Miller in 2000.
Advertisement
Warnock is also the first African American to represent Georgia in the Senate and the first Black Democrat to be elected to the Senate by a former state of the Confederacy.
Warnock graduated from Sol C. Johnson High School in 1987.
Warnock wanted to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr., and so he attended Morehouse College, from which he graduated cum laude in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.
Warnock credits his participation in the Upward Bound program for making him college-ready, as he was able to enroll in early college courses through Savannah State University.
Warnock then earned Master of Divinity, Master of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Union Theological Seminary, a school affiliated with Columbia University.
Warnock has an estimated net worth of $2 million.
Leave a Reply