Written by John A. Tures , LaGrange College ____ When Rev. Raphael Warnock prevailed in the special election on Jan. 5, he was the first African American from Georgia to win a U.S. Senate seat, and the 11th African American to serve in the U.S. Senate. But as a political scientist who has studied African American candidates seeking statewide offices like governor or U.S. senator , I know that Warnock’s real victories were as an African American candidate who had no previous elected experience and won a Senate seat, and he became the first African American to defeat a sitting senator or governor.
