REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK

In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black veterans who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.

Black women are stepping up as Democratic candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate as the party looks to expand its footprint in Sun Belt battlegrounds.

Nothing like a prominent life in public service to help your other career as a romance novelist.

He told reporters the Georgia law is an “atrocity" and the Justice Department is looking into it. Allies meanwhile plan to fight the Georgia law, and others, in court. He called as well for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore some aspects of a landmark law struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013. Donald Trump, the former president who promoted false claims of election fraud, congratulated the Georgia governor and state leaders on the new law. 1 is vast, and its Senate counterpart would confront the new Georgia law by expanding voting by mail and early voting, both popular during the pandemic.

FILE - In this April 3, 2019, file photo, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams speaks during the National Action Network Convention in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)During his visit to Atlanta on Friday, President Joe Biden will meet with former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has been widely credited with helping flip the former Republican stronghold blue. But Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will still meet with Abrams and thank her for her work, the White House confirmed on Thursday. AdThe meeting will come as Republicans in the Georgia state General Assembly push several proposals to make it harder to vote in the state. Ad“Stacey, you’re changing Georgia,” Biden said.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is slated to speak at Tuesday's event, “We Are One,” which will also honor the historic nature of her being the first Black and South Asian woman to become U.S. vice president. Black voters nationwide helped deliver Biden’s presidency, overwhelmingly supporting him from the start of his White House bid. The event will pay homage to the legacy of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Black sororities and fraternities. It'll be hosted by Terrence J and feature Leslie Jones, DJ D-Nice, and Black cultural icons such as Frankie Beverly, The O’Jays, and Rapsody.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is slated to speak at the event, “We Are One,” which will also honor the historic nature of her being the first Black and South Asian woman to become U.S. vice president. Black voters nationwide helped deliver Biden’s presidency, overwhelmingly supporting him from the start of his White House bid. The event will pay homage to the legacy of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Black sororities and fraternities. It'll be hosted by Terrence J and feature Leslie Jones, DJ D-Nice, and Black cultural icons such as Frankie Beverly, The O’Jays, and Rapsody.

Raphael Warnock delivers a sermon during a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Warnock is senior pastor at Ebenezer, the church where the late Dr. Martin Luther King once also pastored. (AP Photo/John Amis)In his first sermon since being declared a winner in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff election, the Rev. Raphael Warnock on Sunday addressed last week’s deadly Capitol Hill riot that all but overshadowed his historic victory. Sunday’s sermon showed Warnock falling back on a prophetic tradition of the Black American church in which preachers weave Scripture with criticisms of racism, militarism and poverty.

Sen.-elect Warnock shares more than a party with Biden: Both Democrats made faith a central part of their political identity on the campaign trail and their victories are emboldening religious liberals. and Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock shares more than a party with President-elect Joe Biden: Both Democrats made faith a central part of their political identity on the campaign trail — and their victories are emboldening religious liberals. Warnock and Biden are hardly the only two national-profile Democrats driving the party’s evolution toward engagement on spiritual matters. Despite coming from different partisan backgrounds, both Head and Wear advised Democrats to avoid embracing religious rhetoric for purely political purposes. She described the disparate religious backgrounds of Warnock, Ossoff, Biden and Buttigieg as an unsung asset for the party.

People in the crowd hold up an image of Stacey Abrams as President-elect Joe Biden speaks in Atlanta, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, to campaign for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, Rev. “I think what’s next for Stacey is whatever Stacey wants to be next," said Leah Daughtry, a former chief of staff at the Democratic National Committee. “Stacey Abrams (that’s the tweet),” wrote Karine Jean-Pierre, incoming deputy White House press secretary. At the same time, Abrams never stopped pushing Democrats to support her Georgia efforts and copy them nationally. Groh-Wargo emphasized this week that one difference between 2018 and 2020 was the success at turning out Black voters in rural areas.

___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GEORGIA SENATE ELECTIONSGeorgia’s two Senate runoff elections determined which party will soon control the U.S. Senate. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock, while Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue. The Associated Press has called the runoffs for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The Senate race in Georgia between incumbent Republican David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff is too early to call. The contest between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue remains too early to call.

But Black voters were a force in the early vote and on Election Day. Notably, it wasn’t just in metro Atlanta, but also in rural and small-town counties across South Georgia, where Black turnout has historically lagged. That means it was an alliance spanning from the most affluent Black residents of Atlanta, including recent transplants to Georgia, to those Black Georgia natives who hail from the most economically depressed pockets of the state. But Black voters can point to Tuesday’s vote count and take credit for that strategy ending in defeat. But Democratic turnout stayed strong, as well, with Fulton and DeKalb in the core of metro Atlanta on pace to nearly match or exceed their general election turnout.

(AP Photo/Ben Gray)ATLANTA – Voters across Georgia cast their ballots Tuesday to decide which party will control the U.S. Senate. “I feel like for the Republican candidates to still stand there with Trump and campaign with Trump feels pretty rotten. James said he was worried about losing a balance of power in Washington if Democrats win control of the Senate. ___ANGELA TRAN, 27Tran voted for Warnock and Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff at a church in downtown Atlanta. Tran said the attack ads against Warnock actually swayed her to vote for him and Ossoff.

It took a high-stakes Senate race and a Trump-era cultural debate to thrust Ebenezer Baptist Church into the center of the current political debate. “The Republican attack is not just against Warnock, it’s against the Black church and the Black religious experience,” said the Rev. ”It’s bigger than any individual.”Loeffler has responded, saying in a tweet last month that she isn't attacking the Black church. Since before the abolition of slavery, the Black church has played a role in brokering congregants' relationship to political power. It’s not uncommon for politicians, most often Democrats, to campaign from Black church pulpits.

The president has spread unfounded assertions of voter fraud and blasted Georgia Republican officials, including Gov. Democrats are fine with the GOP senators' decision to run as Trump Republicans and use exaggerated attacks. But the early vote already has set a statewide Georgia runoff turnout record. McNeely, the former state GOP leader, lamented that even if Perdue and Loeffler win, their campaigns move Georgia further away from a more centrist tradition. But he rose through the Georgia General Assembly in an era when Democrats dominated the state.

DETROIT – The Detroit Youth Choir took to the world of politics Friday when they released a new song about the highly-watched Senate races in Georgia. READ: Stakes high for U.S. Senate runoffs in GeorgiaThe song -- titled “Georgia’s Changing” -- only featuring two artists instead of the entire choir. Both artists featured in the song have grandparents from Georgia who were also active in the civil rights movement. The song ends with a message telling watchers to vote blue and vote for the democrats in the race. The video was posted to the Detroit Youth Choir’s Twitter account with a quote from Lewis.

The president has spread unfounded assertions of voter fraud and blasted Georgia Republican officials, including Gov. Democrats are fine with the GOP senators' decision to run as Trump Republicans and use exaggerated attacks. But the early vote already has set a statewide Georgia runoff turnout record. McNeely, the former state GOP leader, lamented that even if Perdue and Loeffler win, their campaigns move Georgia further away from a more centrist tradition. But he rose through the Georgia General Assembly in an era when Democrats dominated the state.

For Democrats to win control of the Senate, Georgia’s Black communities, as well as the state's smaller Hispanic and Asian communities, likely need to vote in the Jan. 5 runoff election by history-making margins. An Associated Press VoteCast survey of Georgia voters in November found that 22% of white voters chose Warnock and 28% chose Ossoff, compared to the 90% of Black voters who chose Ossoff and 73% who chose Warnock. Democrats also have an opportunity to capture the 15% of Black voters who chose Matt Lieberman, another Democratic candidate who competed against Warnock in last month’s race. There are signs that turnout in Georgia could indeed be high in the runoffs. “Do you have a plan to vote in the runoff election?” another canvasser, Graco Hernandez Valenezuela, asked Tyrone Vereen, a 62-year-old Black retired police officer who answered the door.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, warned that failing to reelect the two Republican incumbents in next month's crucial runoff could erode her father's legislative achievements. Telling a crowd in Columbus that “everything is at stake” in the Jan. 5 contests, Harris said Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and a senior White House adviser, stumped with Republican U.S. Sens. Over the crowd's shouts of “We love Trump!” and “Fight for Trump!” she implored voters to send Republicans back to the Senate “to protect all that America stands for."

Now Warnock is the politician running for office and the one under attack for his sometimes impassioned words from the pulpit. His opponent, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, has blasted his rhetoric and proposals as “radical,” socialist and out of step with Georgia residents. At the Georgia Capitol in 2014, he was arrested while protesting the refusal of state Republicans to expand Medicaid. Warnock said he was trying to make sure young people had lawyers or family present when questioned by authorities. Warnock is right to keep focusing on his platform of a living wage, expanded health care options and voting rights, said the Rev.

Richmond, who is set to resign from Congress to join the incoming Biden administration as a senior adviser, tested positive on Thursday, Dec. 17, for the coronavirus, according to the Biden transition. – One of President-elect Joe Biden’s closest advisers tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, according to his transition team. Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, who is set to resign from Congress to join the incoming Biden administration as a senior adviser, tested positive two days after traveling to Atlanta to attend a campaign rally that Biden headlined for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Biden transition spokesperson Kate Bedingfield said in a statement. Bedingfield said Richmond was not in close contact with Biden, Ossoff or Warnock, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)MENLO PARK, Calif. – Facebook said Tuesday it will temporarily pause its ban on political advertising in the U.S. to allow ads for the Georgia runoff elections for the state’s two Senate seats. The social media giant banned new election and political ads six weeks ago, after the polls closed on Election Day. It was an extension of an earlier restriction on new political ads in the week leading up to Nov. 3. Facebook said in a blog post it will reject political ads not specifically targeted to Georgia. Early in-person voting began Monday in the Georgia runoff.

Democrats need a Georgia sweep to force a 50-50 Senate and position Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote. On Saturday, the president used a 100-minute rally to spread unfounded allegations of widespread misconduct in last month’s voting in Georgia and beyond. “Let them steal Georgia again, you’ll never be able to look yourself in the mirror,” Trump told rallygoers. “I want you to be confident about your vote," Pence said. “That’s just not Georgia to me," said Davis, 57, who helped run her late husband's medical business.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event to announce his choice of retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):6:10 p.m.Joe Biden has suggested he can’t go as far with executive authority as some of his most vocal supporters would like, declaring that he won’t violate the Constitution in a leaked recording of his call with civil rights leaders. Biden is urged to use executive action to promote police reform and is heard promising to use his presidential power to overturn “every single damn thing” that President Donald Trump did via executive action. Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds.” He cited the specific example of assault-style weapons, saying it’d be unconstitutional to ban them with executive action. ___7 a.m.President-elect Joe Biden is heading to Georgia to campaign for the Democratic candidates in the state’s two critical U.S. Senate runoffs.

Democratic challenger for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock speaks during a debate with Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, Pool)ATLANTA – Sen. Kelly Loeffler repeatedly refused to acknowledge that President Donald Trump lost reelection in November, as she debated her Democratic opponent, Rev. But Loeffler steered clear of any criticism of Trump, even as she tacitly acknowledged his defeat. The debate came a day after Trump campaigned in Georgia alongside the two senators. Loeffler blamed Democratic leaders for Congress' failure to pass a new round of assistance this fall.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Sunday he was “ashamed” for endorsing the Republican governor of Georgia after he lost in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has seethed over losing the southern state, which hadn’t voted for a Democrat for president in nearly 30 years. Trump has made baseless accusations that illegal votes cost him the election in Georgia and beyond. Trump backed Kemp’s campaign in 2018, boasting that his “full endorsement” helped him edge rising Democrat Stacey Abrams. “If we vote, we will win this election.”___This story has been corrected to show that Trump backed Kemp’s campaign in 2018, not Kemp’s re-election campaign.

As Georgia becomes the nation’s political hotspot this winter before twin runoff elections Jan. 5 that will determine control of the Senate, faith-based organizing is heating up. Billy Honor, director of faith organizing at the group, said the conservative Christian Faith & Freedom Coalition — founded by former Georgia GOP chairman Ralph Reed — has long positioned Georgia “as the home of evangelical fundamentalist types when it comes to the political space." Faith & Freedom made Georgia one of its top three spending targets in a $50 million get-out-the-vote program during the general election and plans increased organizing for the runoffs. Another faith-focused conservative group, the legislative affiliate of the Family Research Council, is holding trainings and pastor briefings before the runoffs. Jewish Democrats in Georgia predicted that the GOP attack on Warnock’s Israel record would fall flat, citing his record of friendship with the Jewish community through his pulpit at Ebenezer.

This photo provided by The Carter Center shows former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 in Plains, Ga. Former President Jimmy Carter marked his 96th birthday Thursday, the latest milestone for the longest-lived of the 44 men to hold the highest American office. (Luke Usry/The Carter Center via AP)ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter marked his 96th birthday Thursday, the latest milestone for the longest-lived of the 44 men to hold the highest American office. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, now 93, recorded audio addresses for Democrats’ virtual national convention urging the election of nominee Joe Biden, who was a young senator from Delaware when Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976. Perhaps most notable among Carter’s 2020 election maneuvering is the Carter Center for the first time designating the United States as a “backsliding” democracy. Weeks before his 95th birthday last year, Carter alluded to the advanced ages of several candidates at the time.

The protesters began to chant Black lives matter! after one of them shouted questions critical of Loeffler's description of Black Lives Matter. Loeffler's tangle with Black Lives Matter had already made headlines last month in connection with her co-ownership of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. The last words of Loeffler's never-completed speech to about 60 people discussed her brush with Black Lives Matter, with her saying I had to draw the line." When we're talking about Black Lives Matter, were not talking about some Marxist organization. Like we said, were talking about Black lives, like real Black Lives.

A military honor guard moved the casket of Rep. John Lewis into Ebenezer Baptist Church for his funeral, Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Atlanta. He read the Gospel, and he actually believed it love your enemies," added Warnock, who will officiate the funeral. Shortly before he died, Lewis wrote an essay for The New York Times and asked that it be published on the day of his funeral. In the piece published Thursday, Lewis recalled the teachings of King:He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice," Lewis wrote. He was wounded for Americas transgressions, crushed for our iniquities and by his bruises we are healed," Warnock added.

Former President Barack Obama, addresses the service during the funeral for the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Thursday, July 30, 2020. He read the Gospel, and he actually believed it love your enemies," added Warnock, who will officiate the funeral. Shortly before he died, Lewis wrote an essay for The New York Times and asked that it be published on the day of his funeral. In the piece published Thursday, Lewis recalled the teachings of King:He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice," Lewis wrote. He was wounded for Americas transgressions, crushed for our iniquities and by his bruises we are healed," Warnock added.

Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, comforts Tomika Miller, the wife of Rayshard Brooks during his public viewing at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday, Jun 22, 2020 in Atlanta. A private funeral for Brooks will be held Tuesday at the church. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)ATLANTA Rayshard Brooks, who was fatally shot by a police officer, is to be remembered Tuesday at the church in Atlanta where the Rev. The private funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church follows a public viewing held Monday. Bernice King, also plans to deliver remarks at Brooks' funeral, along with a friend of his and his mother-in-law, according to a draft program released by the church.

Tomika Miller, the wife of Rayshard Brooks, touches her husband during a family visit just before a public viewing begins at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday, Jun 22, 2020 in Atlanta. We just wanted to come and show our respects.About an hour before the four-hour public viewing began, a gold-colored casket carrying Brooks body arrived at the church. Brooks widow, Tomika Miller, followed a short time later wearing a white dress printed with a photo of the two of them. Police body camera video then showed Brooks and officers having a calm and respectful conversation for more than 40 minutes. After conducting field sobriety tests, Rolfe told Brooks he'd had too much to drink to be driving."

ATLANTA Atlanta police officers called out sick to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief acknowledged members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing. Its not clear how many officers called out. A few hours after reporting to the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Rolfe was moved to the jail in neighboring Gwinnett County, according to online records. Atlanta officers are walking off their shifts or not responding to calls because they feel abandoned, betrayed, used in a political game, Champion told the AP. The district attorney said the other officer, Brosnan, 26, is cooperating with prosecutors and will testify.

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2019, file photo former Georgia House Democratic Leader Stacey Abrams, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has already narrowed the field by saying he will pick a woman. Gretchen Whitmer, other names that have been part of the speculation are Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Abrams. On Thursday, Abrams announced that she was backing Democratic candidates in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. For Arizona, Abrams said former astronaut Mark Kelly has a proven record of service to our country. John Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor and 2020 presidential candidate, is the one to help us cross the finish line for a Democratic Senate majority, Abrams said.