'Nothing is impossible:' Savannah reacts to Raphael Warnock's Senate runoff victory

Raphael Warnock, a born and raised son of Savannah, was elected to the United States Senate on Tuesday, the first Black man to ever hold the position in Georgia's history.

It’s a historic moment. Warnock is also the first senator from Savannah since John M. Berrien was elected for his third term in 1847. 

Warnock is the 11th of 12 children, all raised by devout Christian parents in Savannah. His father was a junkman who preached on Sundays; his mother, a pastor as well, still lives in Savannah. They lived in public housing — Kayton Homes on West Gwinnett.

He graduated from Sol C. Johnson High School, then Morehouse College — earning his bachelor’s degree with Pell Grants and low-interest student loans — before achieving his doctorate at New York’s Union Theological Seminary.

Warnock served in pastor roles in Manhattan and Baltimore churches before becoming the fifth senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 2005, preaching from the pulpit of Martin Luther King Jr.

In campaign speeches, Warnock called his family dynamic growing up “short on money but long on love.”

And that love flowed on Wednesday. Warnock’s friends and family were overjoyed to hear he'd defeated Kelly Loeffler in a hotly-contested Senate runoff. 

More:Raphael Warnock, son of Savannah and U.S. Senate hopeful, brings his message home

When Georgia State Senator Lester Jackson woke up Wednesday morning, he had 63 text messages — all people asking for Warnock’s number, hoping to call and congratulate him. 

Jackson and Warnock have known each other for a while. Jackson’s mother taught at Johnson High School and had Warnock as a student when he was younger. 

Jackson said whenever he runs into Warnock in Atlanta, they don’t call each other “Senator Jackson” and “Reverend Warnock,” they call each other “homeboy.”

“I'm just elated to say my homeboy is in the United States Senate,” Jackson said with a laugh.

Warnock understands the needs of Coastal Georgia, Jackson said, and he understands the struggles of working-class Americans and those living paycheck-to-paycheck.

“[Warnock’s election] says that we're bringing new, young, fresh ideas to the United States Senate. Not only that, we're bringing in a person that understands Coastal Georgia. He is not only from this area, but he is of this area — brought up in public schools, brought up in government housing, who clearly came from a working-class community.”

Jackson, who attended the historically Black Paine College in Augusta, said having a graduate from an HBCU serve in the Senate was invaluable. Warnock attended Morehouse College in Atlanta.

"It means a lot for a person from a historically Black college and university to be in the United States Senate. It speaks magnitudes for someone to speak on behalf of historically Black colleges and universities," Jackson said. "Reverend Warnock's message resonates across Georgia, with people of different backgrounds and different cultures. And I'm just happy to be able to call him my friend."

More:President-elect Joe Biden on Warnock win, Ossoff lead: 'I am more optimistic than I ever have been'

'The Morehouse brother'

As Warnock’s win early Wednesday morning reverberated throughout Black communities in Georgia, the news stirred emotions in fellow Morehouse men such as Nelson A. Henry, a 41-yer-old Detroit native and 2001 graduate of the institution.

“We're all proud, but more than just proud and sitting back and being spectators. When you had this camaraderie of people who have been out knocking on doors, being at rallies, donating money, making sure that we're tagging and posting on social media and using our platform, it's not just because it's the Morehouse brother,” Henry said. “But let's look at the light and credentials of this brother. He's been serving all along. This is just another platform for him to serve.”

For Henry, Warnock’s win puts historically Black colleges and universities in the spotlight for Black leadership: “Not only do HBCU's prepare us for the real world, but we're really prepared to run the world.”

Warnock is in a fraternity of pioneers for Black males — think former President Barack Obama and fellow Morehouse man and late Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson — which Nelson said puts him in new territory.

“There is no pacesetter, you’re it. You’re the trailblazer. You have to bear the brunt of everything else,” he said. “But I do believe he is going to advocate for the citizens of Georgia."

For native Atlantan and fellow Morehouse alum Shawn Walton, Warnock’s win inspires him to finish seminary school.

“I always wanted to make a change,” said Walton, 35, who owns a food nonprofit in Atlanta. “Moral leaders are needed.”

In many ways, Walton sees himself in Warnock: a man of the cloth who was raised by a single mom in an impoverished community.

Morehouse alum David Price, 45, said Warnock’s story of overcoming could speak to Black men in similar situations.

“We do have black leaders, but sometimes, they may not be relatable in terms of the reality of going into the trenches where we've been. I think he brings a different level of relatability,” Price said. "And you know, he's a pastor. That obviously brings another level of good and bad to it as well to black men, because sometimes we've had a disdain with the church. I think it's another chance for maybe even the church to give a different voice that may not get on a regular basis.”

More:How Georgia went blue with Warnock, Ossoff and tipped the balance of power in the Senate

Calm, then chaos

The morning of Warnock’s win started calm, but by the afternoon countless residents across the U.S. watched as the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob as Congress debated certification of the general election count.

The scene was distressing for Michael Tyler, 66. What gave him hope was believing newly-elected Warnock would play a role in healing the nation.

“I'm concerned for our democracy,” Tyler said. “I'm watching CNN as we speak and seeing some unprecedented imagery but it's really a weird day of one of jubilation over senator-elect Warnock's victory. But at the same time just seeing this act of insurrection fomented by the president is very troubling.”

Tyler sees the unrest as an opportunity to unite a country divided by political and racial turmoil and deadly pandemic.

“Warnock is precisely the type of leader that is vitally needed at this time, to summon the country to a restoration of morality, and a greater commitment to the common good, and to principles of justice and equality,” Tyler said. “Given his life's work, as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the advocacy that he's always articulated from the pulpit, of seeking greater societal justice, I think that he will essentially become the pastor to the nation from the pulpit of the Senate chamber.”

While Tyler takes pride in Warnock’s win, he also sees it as consequential as he plays a role in ensuring the incoming Biden administration gets their agenda items passed, particularly items concerning the pandemic.

“What I want to see trickling down is very real effective COVID relief in terms of a much broader, comprehensive rollout of vaccines, I want to see economic relief from the economic impact of the pandemic, and I see Reverend Warnock being able to help to achieve that.”

'Hard work pays off'

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson was tired. He'd been up until 4 a.m. as Tuesday night turned into Wednesday morning. He watched results roll in, fielding calls about Chatham County poll workers heading home before all the votes were counted. 

Johnson was one of Georgia’s 16 Democratic electors who cast their votes for Biden, and he said he was proud of the “evolution and awakening of Georgia” demonstrated on the national level in the last few months.

“It shows that Savannah and Coastal Georgia figured prominently in this process and we won’t be forgotten or discounted or ignored again,” Johnson said. “By anybody.”

Johnson said Warnock’s rise from public housing to being seated in the U.S. Senate is not just a point of pride, but something that the younger generation can look to for inspiration — an example of the promise that “hard work pays off” being fulfilled.

“Public housing is for our least fortunate citizens,” Johnson said. “For the least fortunate of citizens to see that this young man can grow up, earn a PhD., be recognized around the world, assume Dr. King’s pulpit and now become the first African-American Senator from Georgia, that’s an inspirational story for all Savannahians — that nothing is impossible.”

Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.

Raisa Habersham is the watchdog and investigations reporter for Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at rhabersham@gannett.com.