Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
RESIDENTS REJOICE
Many in area enthusiastic after Biden wins presidency
From party leaders to men and women marching on the street, people shared their views on what a Joe Biden/ Kamala Harris victory meant now and going forward.
Colleen Guiney, chair of Delaware County’s Democratic Party, noted the increase in turnout on the Democratic side.
“The Delaware County response has been overwhelming,” she said. “It’s such an overwhelming response to the Biden- Harris ticket. It’s an allteam effort. The voters know what they wanted to do this cycle.”
She said voter education during a pandemic was challenging but emphasized the safety provided by mail ballots that allowed voters to have their voices heard.
“I’m also very grateful to any employees, seasonal and permanent, who had to navigate this process,” she said of those counting the votes. “It was not a simple task.”
As of Friday evening, more than 320,000 votes had been cast in Delaware County, including 192,298 in- person on Election Day and 127,751 mail- in ballots that have been counted on Election Days and the days following. The 9,000 provisional
ballots began to be counted Saturday morning.
“I appreciate that there are still votes being tallied right now,” Guiney said. “We want to make sure that every vote counts. We need to continue to honor their voices.”
Some said the process wasn’t finished.
U. S. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R- Pa., issued a statement saying that the final outcome has yet to be determined.
“President Trump and former Vice President Biden have run hard, spirited campaigns that have inspired record civic engagement,” Toomey’s statement read. “I applaud both of them for their desire to serve our nation. Today’s announcement by the media of the election’s outcome is a projection. A final outcome will be reached when the election process concludes, which is after all legal votes have been counted, litigation is resolved, and any recounts are completed.
“Democracy succeeds only when all sides can trust that the election process is fair and transparent,” it continued. “Given the extremely close result, the American people must be assured that the process is being conducted with integrity. This means campaign representatives must have meaningful access to observe whether the law is being followed. I strongly encourage all state and local officials to ensure that this happens as the election process is completed.”
Attempts to reach Tom McGarrigle, chairman of the Delaware County Republican Party, were unsuccessful Saturday.
Local Democrat Bill Clinton of Upper Providence said, “I’m very excited that we’re going to be able to address the problems that we have in a positive way. We’ve got a lot of issues that need to be addressed. The task for us as Democrats will be to reach out and begin a conversation and listen carefully to the folks who were supporting Trump.”
At a “Save Our City, Save Our Sons” rally and march she co- organized, Kenya Harbin of Chester said she
did cast her ballot for Biden, but not with complete ease.
“With this election, I didn’t know who to vote for,” she said. “You don’t know what’s really going on. You’ve got so much stuff being said, but I just basically looked at what has been done ... like this virus for instance, it took my kids out of school, it just changed our lives - it killed so many people. “
Of Trump, she added, “I don’t think that what he did was for any of us.”
Of Harris becoming the first female, first Black female and the first Asian American in the White House, Harbin was enthusiastic.
“That’s awesome,” Harbin said. “It’s like I’m living in history right now. It’s awesome. Hopefully, she’s like- minded with all of us ... Hopefully, she’s open to everybody’s opinions because nobody’s opinions is really the wrong opinion, just how we were brought up.”
Nin Bell of Parkside changed the sign she carried during a Black Lives Matter march in Chester to reflect the current events.
One side said, “Love” and the other she changed from “Black Lives Matter” to the Biden/ Harris 2020 logo.
Walking along the route with a boot on her foot after breaking it two weeks ago, Bell said, “Now that we have Joe Biden, I think it’ll help a lot. It’ll chase those racists back under their rocks. They all came out when ( Donald) Trump was their leader, so I think things will definitely change in January. I think Joe Biden has a lot
of work ahead of him but I think the virus should be the first major thing that they ( tackle). Get our kids back in school. Get ourselves safe. Tired of wearing these masks, seriously.”
Cliff Newsome, also participating in the Chester march, said discontent with the president was the biggest voter motivator.
“I believe a lot of people were just fed up with Trump and it had nothing to do so much with color, but with the way the virus was handled,” he said. “I just felt that people were fed up and they wanted changed.”
Newsome, who’s been voting for the past 14 years ever since he turned 18, said he noticed a larger turnout at this election than some others of years past.
Others also shared their view of the Biden/ Harris victory annoucement.
“I’m happy that they won,” Ricky Taylor of Chester said. “I feel good about it. I feel good about it. I feel like it’s a necessary step towards ending some of the systemic racism and some of the outright and open bigotry that we’ve been seeing displayed in America for the last few years. I’m excited to see what kind of changes he’s going to bring.”
Sarina Hogan of Albany, N. Y., who was participating in the Chester march, added, “I’m ecstatic about the election. They need to be held accountable for the necessary changes that need to take place to go against the revert of what’s happened these last couple of years. I’m very cautiously
optimistic.”
Delco resident Taylor Kowalski said she normally doesn’t support establishment Democrats, adding that she did not vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“This time, it was just far too important and I made the decision based on policy and platform to go for Biden,” she said, adding, “I really feel that this is a win for Republicans and Democrats.”
Explaining that she grew up in a Republican household, Kowalski said, “To see the Republican Party held hostage the way they were for the last four years, I just feel that it’s a win on both sides.”
She shared her joy at Harris making history.
“I am over the moon that we finally have a woman and the fact that it’s a woman of color, you can’t get better than that in this day and age,” Kowalski said. “This year, it’s just redemption, I think, for so many people.”
She said it was Black women who moved Georgia into Biden’s favor and Black women in Philadelphia who won him the election.
Kowalski shared her biggest hope.
“I want our country to come back together,” she said. “I want us to come back together and I’m not the kind of person who says, ‘ If you voted for Trump, don’t ever talk to me again.’ That’s not going to work. Fifty percent of the country almost voted for that man. We have to come back together, but I think it’s a beautiful day to be an American.”