Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn Tuesday night applauded Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory in the Georgia runoff election against Republican Hershel Walker, securing a 51-seat Democratic majority in the US Senate and giving the first Black senator from Georgia a full six-year term.
With greater than 95 percent of the precincts reporting, incumbent Warnock, 53, received 1,817,465 votes, or 51.4 percent to Walker’s 1,719,868 votes, or 48.6 percent.
“The Brooklyn Democratic Party and I congratulate Sen. Warnock on his well-deserved win that will immensely benefit the people of Georgia and all Americans,” Bichotte Hermelyn, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, told Caribbean Life.
“Through decades of steadfast leadership in Georgia on voting rights, health care, gun and criminal justice reform, Rev. Warnock has fought tirelessly for the security, dignity and economic equality of all people,” added the representative for the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn.
She said Warnock’s win also gives Senate Democrats a 51-seat majority next year, “allowing legislation to be passed easier, and has prevented a MAGA Republican with dangerous beliefs from holding office.
“We are confident that Warnock will continue to skillfully advocate for his constituents and his country, while upholding progressive Democratic values as US Senator,” Bichotte Hermelyn said. “This is a historic moment to celebrate.”
In the last duel of the 2022 midterm elections, Warnock dealt what has been described as another major blow to former President Donald J. Trump, who had handpicked Walker, 60.
“I am Georgia,” proclaimed Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgian, Tuesday night. “I am an example and an iteration of its history, of its peril and promise, of the brutality and the possibilities.
“But because this is America, because we always have a path to make our country greater against unspeakable odds, here we stand together,” he added.
“After a hard-fought campaign – or should I say campaigns – it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken,” Warnock continued. “I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children.
“You have put in the hard work and here we are standing together,” he said.
Speaking tersely after his defeat, Walker, a famed American football star, asked supporters at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, “We’ve had a tough journey, have we not?”
Then, he added, “God is good”, according to the New York Times.
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said on CNN Tuesday night that he hoped Warnock’s victory would serve as a wake-up call for the Republican Party.
“If we don’t take our medicine here, it’s our fault,” he said. “Every Republican in this country ought to hold Donald Trump accountable for this.”
