Raphael Warnock


Raphael Gamaliel Warnock is an American pastor and political candidate. He has been the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta since 2005. Warnock is running in the 2020 Senate special election in Georgia for the seat currently held by Kelly Loeffler.

Early life and education

Warnock is from Savannah, Georgia. He grew up in public housing as the 11th of 12 children born to Verlene and Jonathan Warnock, both Pentecostal pastors. He graduated from Sol C. Johnson High School and Morehouse College. He then earned a Master of Divinity, Master of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy from Union Theological Seminary, a school affiliated with Columbia University.

Religious work

Warnock served as the youth pastor and then as assistant pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, and senior pastor at Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore. In 2005 he became senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr.'s former congregation; he is the fifth person to serve as Ebenezer's senior pastor since its founding.
As pastor, Warnock advocated for clemency for Troy Davis, who was executed in 2011. In 2013, Warnock delivered the benediction at the public prayer service at the second inauguration of Barack Obama. In March 2019, Warnock hosted an interfaith meeting on climate change at his church, featuring Al Gore and William Barber II.

Politics

In March 2014, Warnock led a sit-in at the Georgia State Capitol to press state legislators to accept the expansion of Medicaid offered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He and other leaders were arrested during the protest. In 2015, Warnock considered running in the 2016 election for the United States Senate seat held by Johnny Isakson as a member of the Democratic Party. He opted not to run.
From June 2017 to January 2020, Warnock chaired the New Georgia Project, a nonpartisan organization focused on voter registration.
In January 2020 Warnock decided to run in the 2020 special election for the United States Senate seat held by Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed after Isakson's resignation. He has been endorsed by Democratic Senators Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, and Brian Schatz, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Stacey Abrams.

Personal life

Warnock married Oulèye Ndoye in a public ceremony on February 14, 2016; the couple had held a private ceremony in January. They have two children. In November 2019, the couple separated.