As result looms, US expat ‘really scared’
FORMER Hawaiian resident Jade De La Paz began yesterday hoping for a big Democratic win but was later much more uncertain because of the knifeedge closeness of the US presidential election.
‘‘I’m really scared what’s going to happen,’’ Mrs De La Paz, who is in Dunedin undertaking PhD studies at the University of Otago, said.
She had hoped at one point that Democratic contender Joe
Biden might even have won the red state of Texas. However, President Donald Trump’s success in winning Florida and several other key states, including Texas, had somewhat dented her confidence.
She was encouraged that Mr Biden was leading in Arizona, a former Republican stronghold, though many ballots were still to be counted. She attended an election event hosted by political group Democrats Abroad New Zealand at the Woof! bar in Dunedin last night.
The Otago Daily Times did attempt to solicit views from American supporters of Mr Trump in Dunedin for this story.
University of Otago international relations specialist Robert Patman acknowledged that electoral officials in the key battleground midwest states of Wisconsin and Michigan, and in Pennsylvania, had announced that a final voting tally could not be issued yesterday.
President Trump had performed better than some polls had suggested, but it was too soon to predict the election’s implications for New Zealand because the final results were not yet clear, Prof Patman said.
Ten Otago students last night contributed a 90minute segment to an international online video broadcast, commenting on the US elections.
Dr Aidan Gnoth, of the University of Otago’s National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, said the students’ input into the Academic Live Review 24hour broadcast ‘‘went wonderfully’’.