Post-Election Coverage
By Nhatt Nichols, photos by Andrew Wiese
Last night, every table at the Old Whiskey Mill was filled with Jefferson County Democrats eating dinner and nervously staring at the election coverage as presidential results came in from around the country.
“The nerves kick in, the votes are being counted, we’ve got to wait and see what happens,” said Marty Gilmore, chair of the Jefferson County Democrats, at around 7 PM, his eyes frequently wandering to one of the big-screen TVs showing national election results.
Laura De La Portilla, who was a delegate this year at the Democratic National Convention, was nervous but cautiously hopeful when interviewed around 7 PM. She stressed that the election results are bigger for her than just one issue or candidate.
“My interest is this election is not about an issue. No, it's not an issue. This election is not a normal election. This election is about democracy, and you need to save, preserve, and protect democracy. Then, we can go back to worrying about normal things, like the issues we care about. But without our democracy, none of that is going to matter anymore because we won't have a choice.”
The Whiskey Mill continued to buzz as results came in, though by the time Trump was declared the winner, the dining room was empty except for employees cleaning glasses at the bar.
The Beacon emailed the Jefferson County Republicans for an invitation to cover their event but did not receive a response.
“We will do fine because we are lucky to have the team that we have from City Council all the way through the state legislators. So please don’t give up hope; we will get through this.”
— Kate Dean, outgoing County Commissioner
The presidency wasn’t the only thing that was up for a vote, however. Over at the Co-Lab, Heather Dudley-Nollette’s campaign party had decidedly more jovial undertones. Dudley-Nollette was running to replace Kate Dean as County Commissioner, a race she won with 75.1% of the vote.
Dudley-Nollette knows she’s taking leadership during what could be a difficult time nationally. “It's all the more important that we show strong, compassionate, balanced leadership at the local level. That's how we're going to move forward as a country is one community at a time,” she said.
Outgoing County Commissioner Dean and current Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour, who won her uncontested race last night, were on hand to lend their support to Dudley-Nollette and watch as the rest of the state races came in.
In a speech given just after the county results were announced, Dean reassured those present that this county is going to be able to weather any storm: “We will do fine because we are lucky to have the team that we have from City Council all the way through the state legislators. So please don't give up hope; we will get through this.”
Steve Tharinger, the Washington House of Representatives incumbent for District 24, Position 2, was also at the Co-Lab celebrating his reelection.
The mood was mostly jovial as the national election results came in, with a major lift when it was announced that Clallam, a bellwether county that has voted in alignment with the country as a whole in presidential elections for the last 40 years, went for Kamala Harris.
Even amongst the bright moments, there was a lot of concern about the future. For example, Port Townsend Film Festival Executive Director Danielle McClelland moved to Port Townsend from Indiana, the first state to call the election for Trump. McClelland feels thankful that they and their partner are in a more liberal state, but the elections have caused a riff in their families.
“People in our family have voted in such a way that our lives and our family are in danger,” McClelland said. “That's a really hard situation to take, but I think it largely is because they don't understand that their votes are going to cause that danger. They see the positives of the economy and justification for some of their anger, but they just don't recognize the danger that they're putting other people in.”
Though the election is over, its reverberations will affect Jefferson County for a long time. Many people, especially members of the LBGTQ+ and BIPOC communities, feel concerned for their safety and for the future of their human rights. In our small corner of the world, the most important step we can take is to work to build trust among our friends and neighbors.
As the writer and war veteran Kurt Vonnegut said, “There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."
