U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is fond of saying, “I’m not a senator who used to be a pastor. I’m a pastor serving in the Senate.”
This week, he is a pastor and a senator with a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention. He spoke to the Georgia delegation on Monday morning before addressing the convention on Monday night.
Warnock, the pastor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s home church in Atlanta, was a surrogate for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and later endorsed Kamala Harris after Biden ended his campaign in July.
Here are four things to know about the Atlanta Democrat.
1. Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff were elected in a tumultuous January 2021 runoff election, defeating Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Their victories also gave Democrats control of the Senate. Loeffler, defeated by Warnock, was appointed in 2019 to fill the unexpired term of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson until the special election. Warnock was then elected to a full six-year term in 2022, defeating Herschel Walker.
2. As senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church, a role he still holds, Warnock has a national reputation for speaking out on issues such as criminal justice and health care access. He has been pastor since 2005. Ebenezer Baptist Church holds services in a newer sanctuary adjacent to the Historic Sanctuary where MLK and his father were pastors. Both buildings are located in the Auburn Avenue historic district in Downtown Atlanta.
3. Although the senator distanced himself from the administration during his 2022 campaign, Warnock emerged in 2024 as a key supporter and surrogate for Biden, including support for Biden’s invitation to speak at Morehouse College graduation during a spring season of protests on other campuses over the war in Gaza. Warnock is a Morehouse graduate.
4. He rides a bike for exercise and has taken part in the AJC Peachtree Road Race for the past four years. Warnock said he once did an interview with MSNBC while cycling near the Augusta Canal. He uses the Senate Gym when in Washington and gets steps just walking between meetings and appointments at the Capitol.
Read more
Warnock: After running for office, AJC Peachtree Road Race ‘feels like a cakewalk’
Warnock maintains balancing act between politics and ministry
About the Author
