LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — U.S. Sen. and Rev. Raphael Warnock brings his pastor's style to politics.
It's what you'd expect from the man who won a special election in Georgia in 2020, won a regular election in 2022 and continues to preach regularly from the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once stood.
Warnock, who visited Las Vegas over the weekend to speak at the Nevada State Democratic Party's convention, says what many Democrats say about the 2026 and 2028 elections: successful candidates have to focus on the basic issue of affordability.
WATCH | Senior Political Reporter Steve Sebelius has more from the Georgia Democrat:
"I think what folks are looking for us to do is lay out our visions and our plan," he said. "We've got to center the concerns of ordinary people, and that's something I've always done. I'm a pastor, and what I know from being a pastor is if you don't walk with ordinary people, you don't understand their struggles."
But what can U.S. senators actually do to lower costs? Gasoline prices are set by a complicated international market, subject to myriad factors that can play havoc with costs.
Groceries, too, can be affected by decisions made outside the walls of the U.S. Capitol.
"We could get rid of the tariffs; that would be a good start," Warnock says. "I'm talking to families in Georgia, their input costs have gone up. It's already a tough business and because that strait [of Hormuz] is closed, the cost of fertilizer is going up. If you're sitting at home watching me, and you're like, 'what I care about fertilizer?' — you're seeing it in the price of your fruits and vegetables."
Warnock admits to being frustrated with the lack of oversight of the Donald Trump administration shown by Congress, where Republicans enjoy majorities in both houses.
"You've got this balance of powers, but what happens when one of those three co-equal branches of government decides to just give over their power to the executive branch?" he asks.
But he's also hopeful, even in the face of setbacks like losing the White House and Democratic control in Congress.
"There's no question there's a deficit of trust in our country. What Americans have been witnessing, not just over the last few years, but really over the last few decades, across administrations, is a deepening divide between what people should be able to reasonably expect from their government," he said.
"That in the wealthiest nation on the planet, people ought to be able to have a decent life, a dignified life," he added. "They ought to have access to basic health care, they ought to be able to have clean water and clean air, ought to be able to have a job that pays a livable wage, the ability to retire with dignity, to put their children through school, to have child care so they can go to work, and what we've been witnessing is a deepening divide between what people can reasonably expect from the government and what government has been able to deliver."
Warnock — the first Black senator ever elected from Georgia — criticized the Supreme Court's rulings on the Voting Rights Act, calling a recent ruling in a Louisiana case "deeply dishonest."
"We were already in an arms race of gerrymandering, a race to the bottom, and the Supreme Court went and poured fuel on that fire," he said. "We could see a Congress that looks more like 1956 than 2026."
Warnock said the rulings affect women, working-class people of all races, students and others.
"That's what this is about, and the best answer for this, if you're an ordinary citizen, saying, 'well, what can I do?' You can show up. They're counting on you not to show up."
Asked about religion and politics — a controversial topic, with many on the left warning about the excesses of Christian nationalism, and evangelicals questioning why Democrats can use faith to advocate for policies while decrying Republicans who do the same — Warnock said some faith values are universal.
"I'm a man of faith, and I got in politics really as an extension of my ministry, and by that I mean service. I bring my values to my work in the United States Senate; I don't bring my creeds," he said. "I don't want to live in anybody's theocracy. I love this country. I love this brilliant idea of a diverse, multifaceted democracy that supports the free exercise of religion or the right not to have any religious belief at all."
Added Warnock: "My faith is not a weapon, it's a bridge. It's not about dominating other people, it's about the values of my faith, which I believe are resident in all of the great faith traditions, truth telling, justice making in the world, compassion, empathy, the ability to look into the eyes of your neighbor who may not live in your neighborhood and see a glimpse of God's face."
Although Warnock has been talked about as a potential candidate for president in 2028, he demurs when asked directly.
"I really am enjoying this job," he said. "I'm a senator, I'm the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. I've got a 9, almost 10-year-old daughter, 7-year-old son, that's four jobs. I think I've got even right now."
Which, of course, is not a "no."