Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Celebrates Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock’s Victory in Georgia’s U.S. Senate Race Special Election
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Washington, DC — Today, Georgia voters reelected NARAL-endorsed candidate Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) to the U.S. Senate during a special election.
In response to Sen. Rev. Warnock’s victory, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Senator Reverend Warnock is a fighter for our fundamental rights, and Georgians fought just as hard to send him back to the Senate. The stakes are high in this election because of an extremist GOP administration. Georgia is once again faced with Governor Brian Kemp’s extreme ban on abortion at just six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. Georgia voters support abortion access and turned out to fight back—waiting hours to cast their ballots in support of reproductive freedom and Sen. Rev. Warnock. NARAL and our 83,000 members in Georgia congratulate Sen. Rev. Warnock, and we look forward to continuing to work with him to restore and defend abortion rights and access.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southeast Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth said:
“During his time in the U.S. Senate, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock has fought for reproductive freedom time and again. He fights to ensure that everybody, no matter who they are or where they live, has the freedom to make their own decisions about their lives, families, and futures. We are grateful to have Senator Warnock continuing the fight for our fundamental rights.”
Sen. Rev. Warnock powerfully draws on his faith to champion reproductive freedom. He is a cosponsor of and he voted to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would lock into law the right to abortion throughout the United States by creating a right for health care providers to provide abortion care and a corresponding right for people to receive that care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 17 states, including Georgia, are enforcing bans on abortion. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
NARAL endorsed Sen. Rev. Warnock as part of its largest-ever midterm electoral program to elect candidates up and down the ballot during this critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. The program focuses on deep field investments in phone banking, door knocking, youth organizing, and canvassing, along with a robust communications campaign to support endorsed candidates and ballot initiatives in Pennsylvania, Georgia, California, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada. NARAL’s work in Georgia for the special election includes (as of December 6):
- Knocking on over 2,000 doors, making over 152,000 calls, and sending over 203,000 texts;
- Releasing an analysis of early mail ballot requests in Georgia pointing to a growing wave among women and Black voters in the state far outpacing previous elections;
- Conducting polling alongside Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates and EMC Research showing Georgians support of reproductive freedom;
- Releasing an ad backed by a five-figure buy shining a light on Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s extreme anti-choice agenda; and
- Deploying NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju to fight side-by-side with champions and get out the vote in key races.
Listening to state leaders and recognizing the power and necessity of real on-the-ground investments, NARAL Pro-Choice America launched its Georgia chapter in 2017 to help build the progressive momentum and infrastructure necessary to make Georgia a key battleground state. NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia spent years working alongside other in-state groups to lay the foundation for this race, mobilizing tens of thousands of voters to turn out for reproductive freedom champions at all levels.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.