Election 2020

Locals and visitors react to presidential election results

"It’s felt like the fourth quarter of the Seahawks game has gone on for days," according to one shopper

This is 4-year-old Norman Clark, who tells us, "The president we wanted won."

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Dawn and Robert Rochette, of Poulsbo, are newlyweds who have differing opinions about the results of the election.

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Kelly O’Reilly just moved to Olympia from southern California. She said she is “Overjoyed. This is a change we needed for our country. And another reason it’s really thrilling is to have a vice president who is a lady, and a woman of color as well. That’s super exciting.”

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Nancy, whom we met at the Olympia Farmers Market, says "Yippee!"

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Glenn Blackmon of Olympia said, "We’ve been cheering. It was just a great relief to get the decision, finally. We were pretty worried Tuesday evening about it, and then we were anxious for days."

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Glenn Blackmon's spontaneous parade grew in minutes from two to seven people as we observed it today.

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Michelle Telander and Chaye Telander, of Lacey, talked with us. Michelle said she is "ecstatic, ready to get back to things that really matter." Chaye: "Ditto."

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Tammi, of Olympia, says, "I'm happy but I think it's going to be hard to bring the country back together."

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Matt Thompson of Dupont said he is “happy that we’re going in a new direction.”

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Greg Miller of Olympia, said "I was a John McCain supporter, but I voted for Biden."

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Jacquie Boyd, left, and Karen Craven of Fox Island, WA, in Pierce County are fans of farmers markets and came today to experience Olympia Farmers Market. Jacquie is “thrilled at the outcome” of the election but is “concerned at the depth of support” from Trump voters. Karen said she is “ecstatic today."

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First use of The JOLT's mobile newsroom, set up in front of the G. Miller mens clothing store in the Market Centre building at 111 Market St. NE in downtown Olympia.

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Posted Saturday, November 7, 2020 3:08 pm

by Danny Stusser

OLYMPIA -- On this cold Saturday morning, we ventured outside to see who wanted to share their thoughts about this historic Presidential election.

Here's who we found.

Newlyweds Dawn and Robert Rochette, visiting Olympia Farmers Market from Poulsbo, are a microcosm of the country as a whole. Robert “was going to move to Canada if Trump got in for another four years," he said. Dawn holds the opposite view: “I hate it. I fear what will happen to this country, run by a man [Biden] who I believe has dementia. And I think he hides in a basement. I don’t think he’s going to be effective.”

This being Olympia, most of the comments were positive, but several were shadowed by concerns about those who voted for the President. One Olympia man who preferred anonymity said, “I’m happy for the ultimate result [of the election] but I’m not happy that it’s exposed quite a few divisions within the country. It’s not good for the democracy for it to be so polarized.”

Angela Leonard, of Olympia, said she is “relieved. Deeply relieved, yes. I don’t think it’s over, though. I think we’re going to have to endure more pushback from the Trump Administration, based on everything he’s shared [such as the] baseless allegations of [ballot-counting] fraud. That’s my main concern.”

While huge crowds gathered in major cities across the country, Olympia was mostly quiet this morning. An exception was an impromptu parade that gathered behind Glenn Blackmon and his wife. “We felt like we just had to get out and celebrate with other people, as little as you can these days,” he said. They grabbed their U.S. flag and a Biden-Harris yard sign and began walking. “We started walking downtown and the honking ensued. We started with just the two of us, my wife and me, and then we were five and I think we’re about seven now.”

“J” of Thurston County is so concerned about her physical safety that she refused to provide her name or allow a photograph to be taken of her. She said she voted for Biden, explaining “he wasn’t my candidate, but he turned out to be the man for the times. I mean, his whole story is remarkable. When his son Beau died, he was worried about how his father would be after he was gone and he told him to find a purpose. Find a purpose. And boy oh boy, it’s the stuff of myth, I think.” But she’s concerned about how some Trump voters will react. “I wish I didn’t have to be afraid. I’m a little worried about violence and retribution, just for saying these simple things. I still feel that, I’m sorry.”