Georgia Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock walked into the polling place inside the auditorium at New Life Church in Decatur on Wednesday, Oct. 16. On his way into the building he high-fived a woman who yelled out to him that she voted. “Well, alright,” Warnock said.
Warnock and many other Georgians, more than 300,000 in fact, have already voted during the state’s early voting period which began on Tuesday, Oct. 15, according to the latest data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Before he cast his vote, Warnock, Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, all vocal supporters of current United States Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held a rally in the parking lot of the former Macy’s location at The Gallery at South DeKalb. All three men spoke to a crowd of a couple dozen supporters about the importance of casting their votes this election season, but also talked about dispelling the myth of Black male support for former United States President Donald Trump, the current Republican nominee for Commander-in-Chief.
“I don’t believe there are waves of Black men supporting Trump,” said Warnock, who went on after Johnson and Thurmond spoke. “We’re not confused about who Donald Trump is.”
Warnock mentioned Trump’s verbal attacks on the now Exonerated Five, then Central Park Five, and his and his late father’s resistance to rent to Black and brown people as landlords and property owners in New York City as evidence of how the former President feels about Black men.
Warnock also reminded the crowd, which included dozens of Black men, that Trump “rode into politics on a birther lie”.
“We have to show up like our lives depend on it,” Warnock said about voting, either early on on Election Day, November 5.
Johnson said the record turnout of early voters is because of the excitement to vote in this election and be heard, but voters need to continue to be making their way to the polls. “We’ve been riding a wave, a joyful wave, a wonderful wave over the past three months,” said Johnson. “And even though it’s been joyful, I’m just a little anxious about it.”
The longtime Congressman said voters need to bring their family members, friends, and neighbors with them to the polls. “We’ll have time to let our hair down after November 5.” Johnson said.
Thurmond, who is scheduled to retire after this current term ends, asked the crowd to do him a favor before he leaves office. “Before I go I need y’all to do one more thing, send Donald Trump back to Florida and elect Kamala Harris.”
DeKalb County, which has nearly 600,000 registered voters, is the fourth largest county in the state of Georgia. The county has already seen an influx of votes cast after just two days of early voting. Just over 40,000 votes have been cast in DeKalb County, according to data provided by Georgia Votes, with 48% being by Black voters. More than 42% of those Black votes have been by men, according to G
