Hopes were high, but so were nerves, early in the evening on Tuesday, Nov. 5, Election Day. At the Center for Change in Seaside, the Monterey County Democratic Party’s headquarters, volunteers gathered for food and wine and to watch MSNBC projected on the wall.
“I’m super nervous,” says Elena Loomis. “I have to have a female president for my grandchildren, and in my lifetime.” She adds that she took her granddaughter with her to the voting booth earlier – a granddaughter who was born on Nov. 16, 2016, just after Donald Trump was elected for the first time.
Windsor Lindor of Monterey arrives with his poodle, Xena. He’s here mostly to support his wife, Rebecca Lindor, a candidate for Monterey Peninsula Water Management District board of directors (who won her race handily). “I’ve seen so many people voting for Trump, it just breaks my heart,” he says. “It’s about democracy, it’s about truth. People are angry.”
A Seaside family arrives for their first-ever political watch party, after getting roped into working on politics. Sharmisa Taylor, an English teacher in Salinas, got involved canvassing in that city for city council and school board candidates, and for Kamala Harris. Her family – husband David Torres, and their teenage children, Cameron and Shae – joined in at the Democratic headquarters. “It’s the first time we got involved,” Torres says. “This election is important for us. We believe in change. Trump said he was going to drain the swamp, but all he did was add to the swamp.”
As newscasters called various races (such as Ted Cruz clinching the Senate seat for Texas), the room erupted in boos. For this groups, the bad news trickled in all evening, with swing state after swing state called for Trump.
By the next morning, it was clear Trump had won, even as counting continues.
As of 8am Nov. 6, the Monterey County Elections Department count showed that locally, 53,914 voters cast their ballot in support of Harris, and 26,596 voted for Trump.
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