Religious voters react to Georgia Senate race results favoring Democrats
Rev. Raphael Warnock is Georgia’s new U.S. Senator and the pastor of the historic church of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Creative Common photo.
Fifty-three years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was eulogized in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the pastor of the slain Civil Rights leader’s congregation has been elected to serve as the first Black Senator from Georgia since Reconstruction.
Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler by receiving 2,227,296 ballots for 50.6% of the vote to Loeffler’s 2,173 866 ballots or 49.4% of the votes cast in a run-off election where the other Georgia seat appears to have been won by a 33-year-old Democrat.
Jon Ossoff, an investigative journalist, declared victory Wednesday morning with a lead of 50.2% or 2,208,717 votes cast. Republican incumbent David Perdue received 49.8% or 2,192,347 votes.
“This marks a seminal moment not just for the state of Georgia, not just for Democrats but for the Black Church,” said Bishop Jamal Bryant, pastor of the 15,000 member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia. “This is the first time since Reconstruction that a pastor has had a seat in the U.S. Senate.”
Warnock is one of the first Black Senators elected in any formerly Confederate state since after the Civil War, preceded only by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
Bryant, whose church is located in the Dekalb County, a suburb of Atlanta, was a field general in an army that mobilized even more voters after the Nov. 3 general election.
“There are 100,000 people who didn’t vote on November 3rd who voted on January 5th,” he said. “After the November 3rd election, activists didn’t go into hiatus, they went into high gear.”
Rev. Gerald Durley, Pastor Emeritus of the Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, was another member of the coalition of pastors who mobilized Georgia voters.
“This is a bellwether ring for America,” Durley said. “Georgia has opened the kind of thinking of what America can be. It begs the question that have we become so myopic that we can’t open up. Georgia has opened up a new thinking for all over America.”
Read: Remembering Rep. John Lewis As A Man Of Faith Who Inspired Others
In July, Durley preached the funeral of Civil Rights icon Rev. C.T. Vivian who died July 17, which was the same day that Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) died of cancer. Lewis was a member of Ebenezer Baptist and was eulogized by Warnock, the church’s pastor for the last 15 years.
Read: Rev. C.T. Vivian Remembered As Fearless Civil Rights Veteran, Loving Family Man
“Even though the Republicans attacked Pastor Warnock in many ways, he stayed on the high road,” Durley said. We did everything humanly possible to get out the vote all over the state. I was at certain polls to make sure that things went right— we had lawyers, we had motorcades, I mean ‘votercades’.”
Rev. Paula Matabane, Minister of Prayer and Visitation at Turner Monumental AME Church in Atlanta, said “I have a good feeling about the election, but we just don’t know.”
Matabane, a retired Howard University professor and minister, said she voted the second day of early voting but that didn’t stop the onslaught of phone calls and door knocking by Democratic volunteers looking for potential votes.
“We have to trust that the vote will get us to the finish line of social justice because without justice you can’t have peace, love and community,” said Matabane adding, “My great-grand parents in 1867, two years out of slavery, registered to vote and they were illiterate. I had no choice but to vote.”
Race was a big factor in the Georgia race. The state has a higher population of Black Americans, at 33%, than the country, at 13%, and nine out of ten have historically voted for Democrats.
Read: Inside Florida’s Evangelical Vote Split Along Racial Identity
According to the Associated Press, White evangelicals were about 26% of the electorate during the election and were particularly strong in the state of Georgia. Whether it's fighting abortion or protecting religious freedom, these conservative Christians saw Donald Trump as their advocate in the White House while Black Americans remain solidly with the Democrats because of their pledged support of social justice issues.
But another factor were Whites who didn’t vote at all.
Jeff Hubright, a retired Delta Airlines meteorologist who is active in his church, said he made a “conscious decision” not to vote in the election. “The platform of the Democratic party is off the top, but the Republican party has not done us any favors. Neither party has earned my allegiance.”
The Georgia race has placed more attention on Congress that is scheduled to certify the results of the 2020 election amid massive protest in Washington, D.C. and concerns about violent protest. President Trump is scheduled to speak to protesters and the Mayor of Washington has called out the D.C. National Guard asked citizens to remain home today.
Senior contributor Hamil Harris is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland College Park and has been a lecturer at Morgan State University. Harris is minister at the Glenarden Church of Christ and a police chaplain. A longtime reporter at The Washington Post, Harris was on the team of Post reporters that published the series “Being a Black Man.” He also was the reporter on the video project that accompanied the series that won two Emmy Awards, the Casey Medal and the Peabody Award. In addition to writing for ReligionUnplugged, Harris contributes to outlets such as The Washington Post, USA Today, The Christian Chronicle and the Washington Informer.