First, I want to thank you for continuing to place your trust and confidence in me to represent the 4th District. Even as we tackle big national issues in Congress, I want you to know that I will continue to take care of home first. I know my most important job is to faithfully represent the constituents who have elected me to serve.

 

I also want to thank each and every one of you for your support during this critical election. Your efforts helped Democrats outperform expectations and block the GOP’s expected surge. Kevin McCarthy was bundled up in his raincoat, waiting for a MAGA red wave to come crashing down — but it never came. And poor Kevin has now been left out to dry. We matched the Republican energy and defended our democracy. That’s because of you.

 

Unfortunately, not all the news from last night is good. Gov. Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams in Georgia's gubernatorial election. But Stacey’s story isn’t about one candidate. It’s about an entire state. It’s about a movement that she led to shake off the Republican yoke and declare in a unified voice that Georgia will be governed by its own people.

 

That dream won’t be realized today, but it will be realized. This was not Stacey’s time. But she has shown us how to build a movement across our state, how to rally our neighbors, and how to believe in a future that includes all of us. And we will continue to build on her work very soon, as the race between Rev. Warnock and MAGA Republican Herschel Walker will go into a runoff.

 

Just like we organized all across the state to elect Senators Ossoff and Warnock at the very beginning of 2021, we must now out-organize the GOP to re-elect Sen. Warnock. Make no mistake, John: they are DETERMINED to beat us and win the runoff election for Herschel Walker. But we can’t let them do that. We must move forward.

 

We don’t yet know whether Republicans will take the majority in either the House or the Senate. It may be that — once again — control of the Senate will depend on our efforts in Georgia. But as we take our first long look at the results from last night, and as I look to the supporters and voters who helped carry us this far, I’m encouraged by what we have done and will do here in our great state.

 

Thank you,

 

Hank Johnson (he/him)