Georgia’s junior Senator Raphael Warnock seeks reelection in the Nov. 8 midterm election. Incumbent Warnock has served in the United States Senate since Jan. 2021 and will face Herschel Walker in the midterm election on Nov. 8. “I’m not in love with politics. I’m in love with change,” Warnock said. Illustration by Antonio Starks, graphic by Mykolas Kumpis
Viewpoints Staffer Mykolas Kumpis summarizes U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)’s stances on the economy, gun violence and abortion.
United States Sen. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock (D-Ga.) has been serving as a pastor since the 1990s and rose to political fame through his advocacy for Medicaid expansion in Georgia, leading protests throughout the 2010s.
Now, the incumbent senator is defending his seat from Republican candidate Herschel Walker. Having served less than two years in the Senate, another six will give him the chance to push forward policy in the next decade.
Economy
Senator Warnock is utilizing his one-and-a-half year record representing Georgia in the U.S. Senate by publicizing his votes for the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. A rhetoric of pushing against large oil and gas companies has also remained prevalent throughout his campaign.
“While we are paying record prices, a lot of our corporate actors are seeing record profits in the oil and gas industry and the pharmaceutical industry,” Warnock said during a debate on Oct. 14.
The incumbent senator promises a policy dominated by small business investments and financial aid packages for communities hit hardest by a national economic downturn.
The incumbent senator promises a policy dominated by small business investments and financial aid packages for communities hit hardest by a national economic downturn.
Gun Violence
Senator Warnock has been a vocal proponent of “reasonable gun reform”: legislation aimed at closing loopholes in existing laws, increasing background checks and funding community-level initiatives to curb the spread of violence. Other than voting in favor of a significant federal gun control bill earlier in the year, the incumbent has spent much more of his time building up the aforementioned three-pronged strategy to tackle gun violence.
“We’ve had about 30 years of no action from Congress on gun safety. Meanwhile there is agreement in the American public that there needs to be reform,” Warnock said after the passage of a historic gun safety bill in the Senate.
Abortion
Senator Warnock has taken a now-standard Democratic position on abortion, calling himself a “pro-choice pastor”. He also expressed staunch opposition to the Supreme Court’s controversial June 24, 2022 overruling of Roe v. Wade, calling the decision “devastating for women and families in Georgia and nationwide.”
