Some WNBA players celebrated Wednesday after Democrat Raphael Warnock was projected to beat incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in a critical second Senate election in Georgia. WNBA players campaigned for Warnock after Loeffler, the co-owner of the WNBA team the Atlanta Dream, criticized the league’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I woke up and just smiled when I remembered Kelly Loeffler trying to come for the W one time and we were helping @ReverendWarnock New York Liberty player Layshia Clarendon tweeted Wednesday. Winning has never felt so damn good. “
“Raphael Warnock is not only Georgia’s first black senator, but also the first black Democratic senator EVER elected in the South,” wrote. Phoenix Mercury directs Brianna Turner. “Fifty years ago that was unimaginable. I wonder where the south will be in fifty years.”
The WNBA and the Atlanta Dream made headlines with their league-wide support of Black Lives Matter over the summer with BLM warm-ups and jerseys, a statement Loeffler disapproved in June and asking WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to quit.
In a statement mocking the protest in August, Loeffler called the players’ shirts a sign of cancellation culture. “This is just more evidence that the out-of-control cancellation culture wants to shut out anyone who disagrees with them,” she said. “Obviously, the league is more concerned with politics than basketball, and I’m sticking to what I wrote in June.”
In response, the Atlanta Dream and other senior members of the WNBA endorsed Reverend Warnock, who even wore “Vote Warnock” shirts to their matches.
Atlanta Dream striker Elizabeth Williams told The New York Times that the idea for the shirts came from WNBA Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird. Bird, who shared a photo of himself in the Warnock t-shirt on Wednesday, told Deadspin last month that the players chose not to attack Loeffler and instead support Warnock.
“We found that this voice that we have together is quite powerful,” Bird told the sporting goods store. “The size of our league makes this possible, we have about 144 players in the league, but we’ve had to go through our careers to fight for things … So we’ve developed this backbone and we’ve learned to for ourselves. And now. we lend that battle to others. “
The Times also reported that the idea was discussed and endorsed by Stacey Abrams, who holds an advisory position on the board of the WNBA Players Association. Just two days after players wore the shirts, the campaign raised more than $ 185,000 online, added 3,500 grassroots backers, and grew Warnock’s Twitter account by nearly 3,500 followers, a campaign official told CBS News.
Players maintained their activism in the months that followed, serving as pollsters and shed light on causes of racial justice in the months prior to election day. Dream player Renee Montgomery completely retired last season to fight for social justice reform and advocacy for voters in Georgia. Some Dream players reported one More than a voice ad released Monday calling on people to vote in Georgia’s runoff races. In the video, Williams called on her followers to vote for Warnock and Jon Ossoff, the other Democrat running for a Senate seat.
Warnock is poised to become the first black senator in Georgia’s history. Exit poll data shows that he won 92% of the state’s black votes.
“We were told we could not win this election,” Warnock told supporters on Wednesday. ‘But tonight we have proven with hope, hard work and the people by our side that anything is possible. May my story be an inspiration to a young person trying to grasp and grasp the American dream. ‘
While the WNBA’s protest also called for Loeffler’s removal, neither they nor co-owner Mary Brock have said the Dream is for sale. However, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James put his hat in the ring as a potential buyer, suggest on Twitter that he wants to “create an ownership group” to buy the team. James, who leads More Than a Vote, also said he was “proud” of what he saw from Georgia voters on Tuesday.
“I’m proud of my people who go out and do what they do best,” James told reporters. “And that’s being heard and seen and being powerful and involved.”