Rev. Raphael Warnock, while making his victory rounds after projections that he defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of two of Georgia's vital runoff elections, said Wednesday that he does not expect there to be a long, drawn-out process of legal challenges before he joins the Senate.
“I expect to serve in just a few days in the United States Senate," Warnock told NBC's "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie. "It took good public policy along with personal responsibility to get me here. And that American promise is alive and well."
Newsmax and partner Decision HQ also on Wednesday projected Democrat Jon Ossoff as the winner of his race over incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue.
Warnock, the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once also was a pastor, told Guthrie that he grew up in public housing and was one of 12 children in his family and the first college graduate. He will be Georgia's first Black senator.
When asked if he thinks President Donald Trump's contentions about Georgia and his own presidential race helped him win, Warnock said he thinks Georgia "heard a very clear contrast" between him and Loeffler.
"People have been waiting for months for months for relief, and they saw politicians play the same old games last week," he said. "We should have passed the $2,000 stimulus check."
Warnock also called for unity, pointing out that he's brought people together across racial and religious lines.
Meanwhile, Loeffler will be in Washington to vote against certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden, and Warnock told CNN's "New Day" that she has been "consistent" in putting her own "political interests" over the concerns of ordinary people.
"What's unfolding in this moment is a distraction," said Warnock. "These senators know better and the people that I'm talking to all across Georgia are concerned about their lives. They're concerned about the fact that they've waited for months and haven't received the kind of COVID relief that they need."
He also called the win "stunning" and said he's spoken to his "brother," Ossoff, and called it an honor to have run alongside him.
Meanwhile, Warnock said he plans to return to his pulpit and preach on Sunday mornings, even after his election.
"The last thing I want to do is become disconnected from the community and just spend all of my time talking to the politicians," he said. "I might accidentally become one. I have no intentions of becoming a politician. I want to be a public servant."
He also appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," where he commented that he's proud of the people of Georgia for picking him.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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