Last Wednesday, voters woke up to heavy rain and dark skies.
At coffee shops across the county, islanders said things like, “This is going to change things.”
On social media, people called the daybreak a nightmare as numbers revealed with finality that Donald Trump would indeed be our next commander in chief.
Polls showed that men and non-college educated whites were a big factor in Trump’s win. He also won the evangelical support and even garnered votes from people who claimed to dislike him.
According to the Cook Political Report on Nov. 8, 77 percent of voters who saw Trump unfavorably, voted for Clinton; 15 percent of those people still voted for him.
In San Juan County, 68.5 percent turned out for Clinton and 25.06 percent voted Trump. So it’s easy to see why islanders are shocked by the election results.
On the local level, we applaud voters for re-electing Rick Hughes with 75.2 percent and electing Bill Watson with 55.73 percent of the vote to the San Juan County Council. These two men will bring fresh ideas to the county in a well-balanced and ethical approach. We look forward to watching these councilmen tackle issues like affordable housing and long-term employment. We also want to thank councilman Bob Jarman for his service to our community for the past four years. In his time on the council, Jarman has been a part of some major headway in county government like the approval of Shoreline Master Program and Critical Areas Ordinance.
We hope our local election results will help unite our islands during this time. As many islanders bemoan the election of Donald Trump as president, we must look at how we can strengthen our politics at home.
Islanders say they are disappointed, confused and nauseated at the president elect’s history of misogyny, xenophobia and racism, which are real problems in our country. Even though we get the luxury of being removed from the mainland, let us take the time to look how we handle these issues in our lives. How will we treat sexual assault survivors, how will we discuss immigration and racial issues?
How will we face the dark skies hiding the morning light?
