Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images Obama said that late US Representative John Lewis is "surely smiling down on his beloved Georgia this morning." Lewis died in July, and had endorsed Warnock's Senate run before his death. Obama said in his statement that Democrats around the country "should feel good today," and encouraged people to "remain engaged in civic life." Former President Barack Obama memorialized late US Representative John Lewis in a statement congratulating Reverend Raphael Warnock on his Georgia Special Senate Runoff Election win against Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Tuesday night. "My friend John Lewis is surely smiling down on his beloved Georgia this morning, as people across the state carried forward the baton that he and so many others passed down to them," Obama wrote in a statement published on his social media. "I want to congratulate Reverend Raphael Warnock on his election as Georgia's next US Senator — and while we're still waiting on final results in the other runoff, it's clear that last night's showing, alongside President-Elect Biden's November victory in Georgia, is a testament to the power of the tireless and often unheralded work of grassroots organizing and the resilient, visionary leadership of Stacey Abrams."