Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the hit musical “Hamilton,” called on Latino Georgians this week to support U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., in a race that could determine the balance of power in Washington.
Though Miranda is deeply rooted in the Washington Heights neighborhood in New York City, he has close ties to Atlanta.
Miranda premiered his musical “Bring it On” at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta in 2011.
“I’ve seen you guys freak out over half-an-inch of snow,” he teased the crowd at a rally Wednesday night.
“History has its eyes on you,” Miranda said, quoting “Hamilton.” “I see very starkly what the sides are and the stakes are in this election.
“I believe women should have the right to do what they want with their bodies. …. Senator Warnock brought billions of dollars of aid to our communities, communities of color, and I’m on that team.”
“Latinos and Latinas are going to show up for Senator Warnock in this election and I’m proud to stand with you,” Miranda added. “I look forward to coming back here and having a beer with all y’all when [Warnock] wins again.”
The event had added meaning because the location, the Georgia Beer Garden, was the site of Warnock’s 2021 victory party.
The restaurant sits in the shadow of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the former church of Martin Luther King Jr., where Warnock has served as pastor since 2005.
Warnock, who is seeking his first full term in the Senate, said he continues to preach every Sunday because he wants to remain connected to ordinary people.
“I’ve translated my agitation into legislation, my protests into public policy,” said Warnock.
He pointed to his support for policies that would help the Latino community, chief among them immigration reform.
“We need comprehensive immigration reform – it’s past time,” Warnock said. “I do think especially about the Dreamers, the young folks right here in our community for whom this is the only country they’ve ever known,” he said, referring to children of illegal immigrants who grew up in the U.S. but lack citizenship.
“I’m not suggesting it’s easy, but it’s not as complicated as people are making it,” Warnock added.
Warnock also said he has brought federal funds to the Latino community in Georgia.
“I was able to secure for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce $500,000 to strengthen small business because I understand that when Latino businesses thrive, that’s not only good for them, that’s good for the Georgia economy,” Warnock said to cheers from the crowd.
And Warnock touted his health-care reform successes. He strongly supported including a $35-per-month price cap on insulin as well as other health-care cost caps for Medicare enrollees included in the federal Inflation Reduction Act passed earlier this year.
Warnock said his Republican opponent, former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker, is unprepared to hold a Senate seat.
“What I want you to do is get off the government health care,” Walker said about health care during a debate last week. “That’s what I’m trying to do, to make you independent rather than dependent.”
Walker linked Warnock to President Joe Biden and blamed current inflation on Democratic economic policies last week during what is likely to be the sole debate between the candidates prior to Election Day on Nov. 8.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
