‘A proud American, and a son of Georgia’

warnockforgeorgia.com

Warnock gave a rousing victory speech in which he thanked his voters, saying he came before them as a “proud American, and as a son of Georgia.” He alluded to his parents, his late father was a pastor and veteran, and his mother who as a teenager grew up in Waycross, Georgia, where she “used to pick somebody else’s cotton.”

Joy comes in the morning. Thank you, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/Dw8wPWAMeI

— Senator-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) January 6, 2021

He moved many listeners to tears as he added, “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.”

Warnock, himself a Reverand at the Ebenezar Baptist Church in Atlanta, promised he would go to the Senate to work for all of Georgia. He ended his speech with words of hope:

It’s dark right now. But morning comes and Scripture tells us that weeping may endure for the night, the joy comes in the morning. Let us rise up. Greet the morning and meet the challenges of this moment. Together we can do the necessary work and win the future for all of our children.

Let’s rush economic relief to the American people

Once an investigative journalist, Jon Ossoff will be the youngest Democrat in the Senate since Biden’s win in the 70s. In 2017, he ran for Congress in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, but lost to Republican Karen Handel. Today, he defeated Republican David Perdue on a knife-edge margin.

🚨 DDHQ RACE CALL: Democrat Jon Ossoff won his Georgia runoff race, effectively giving Dems razor-thin control of the Senate heading into the Biden administration. https://t.co/cgr8Ex5YsC

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 6, 2021

Many predicted Perdue would hold his seat, and the fact both Democrats unseated their Republican opponents reflects an important shift in the partisan geography of the nation.

Ossoff thanked the people of Georgia for their “confidence and trust,” and called for unity to “beat this virus and rush economic relief to the people of our state, and to the American people.”

Biden holds the reins to the Senate

Gage Skidmore / Flickr

The victory of these two men is historic and will shape America’s future. With both seats won, Democrats have now regained control of the Senate. With a Democrat House of Representatives and Senate, Biden will be unimpeded by unsurmountable Republican roadblocks in his first term.

Full Democratic control of Congress and the presidency is upon us.

Raphael Warnock defeated Sen. Kelly Loeffler early this morning in his Georgia runoff race, and Jon Ossoff is on track to best Sen. David Perdue.https://t.co/UpRhCBuPqc

— POLITICO (@politico) January 6, 2021

During the inauguration on the 20th of January, Joe Biden Jr. will become the 46th President of the United States. With Democrats holding the reins of legislative power and the purse strings, Biden will be able to pass more economic stimulus to the millions of Americans struggling from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic and job losses.

Georgia will chart the course for the next generation

As Biden put it at a rally to support Ossoff and Warnock:

The power is literally in your hands. Unlike any time in my career, one state can chart the course — not just for the next four years, but for the next generation.

Republicans and Democrats now have 50 seats each in the Senate. As the incoming Vice-President, Kamala Harris will have the critical tie-breaker vote for a simple majority. For votes that need a supermajority, consensus between the parties will still be required.

Of course, passing bills through a 50-50 Senate will present difficulties for both parties, but at a moment where partisanship is at an all-time high in the nation, this could present an opportunity for dialogue and better relations between the Republicans and Democrats.

Democrats will now have the final say on Biden’s Cabinet choices and his picks for the federal judiciary and the U.S. Supreme Court which bills are presented to the Senate floor. Finally, and crucially, thanks to Warnock and Ossoff, it will be the Democrats — and not Mitch McConnell — who decide which bills come to the Senate floor.

Today will go down in the history of the United States of America, and Georgia has played a key role in shaping the future of the nation.