Local politicians react to presidential election results

Former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, of Delaware was projected to be the United States’ new president-elect Saturday.

Biden’s victory came after four days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots following Tuesday’s general election, as reported by numerous national media outlets including Fox News, The New York Times and the Associated Press.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, 56, of California made history as the first black woman to become vice president, and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, making her the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in the U.S. government.

President Donald Trump has promised legal actions that could start as early as today as he refused to concede the election. Trump has made allegations of widespread voter fraud.

According to the AP, on Saturday the White House said the president “will accept the results of a free and fair election” and that the administration “is following all statutory requirements.”

The Southeast Missourian reached out to several local politicians over the weekend to hear their reactions to the news of Biden’s victory, and their predictions about what will happen next.

Republicans

Barry Hovis

Although Republicans didn’t come out on top of the presidential election, the party did make advances by picking up multiple seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and could retain a majority in the U.S. Senate, pending key races.

State Rep. Barry Hovis, who represents District 146, said that while he was disappointed by the outcome of the presidential election, it puts his mind at ease to have a large number of Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate.

“I am a little concerned about where things may go with President-elect Joe Biden, but on the bright side, it looks like we’ll probably hold the Senate, or at least be close enough that there won’t be a lot of crazy stuff happening,” Hovis said.

Hovis added while he doesn’t agree with many of Harris’ philosophies and belief systems, he believes she is “extremely qualified” to be the vice president, and should be congratulated for being the first woman to hold that title.

Rick Francis

State Rep. Rick Francis, who represents District 145, and Hovis shared a similar sentiment about the elections: They were happy with how they saw elections run in Missouri, and have trust in the election process as a whole. While Trump’s claims of voter fraud have not been substantiated, they hope if any type of fraud did occur, it is uncovered.

Hovis said if there was any widespread voter fraud, that could be problematic moving forward.

“I haven’t seen anything pointing to [widespread voter fraud], but I’m only going off what I’ve seen personally with the local elections here — which tend to run really well — and I would assume that all states hopefully run their election process fairly,” Hovis said. “If they would find [proof of widespread voter fraud] it would be very unfortunate because that creates a lot of distrust for everyone in the voting system.”

Francis said only when the country feels as though all votes have been counted fairly can progress start to be made.

“We always need to be wary of voter fraud, but when the country believes that all the votes were counted fairly and so forth, I think our country will come together and we can start coming up with policies that best support this country,” Francis said.

Biden gave a victory speech Saturday evening not far from his Delaware home, in which he said he would be a leader who “seeks not to divide, but to unify” the nation, according to an AP story. He also stated, “I sought this office to restore the soul of America, and to make America respected around the world again and to unite us here at home.”

Hovis said if Biden can pull that off, it would “be neat to see everyone working toward a common goal.”

Francis, however, said he felt this statement from Biden was “disingenuous.”

“[Democrats] certainly did not try to bridge the divide with all the impeachments and all the things they did against Trump for four years, and now suddenly they want to come together? Sounds a little disingenuous to me,” Francis said. “But we’ll see what kind of policies they bring forward for the country and we’ll see if we can work together.”

Hovis said it is likely we will see a shift in policies, but both Hovis and Francis agreed it was still too early to tell what will happen next, and both parties should do the best they can to work together.

Democrats

Kathy Ellis

“It feels like this is the first time I have relaxed in four years,” Kathy Ellis — a Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representative District 8 who lost her bid Tuesday against incumbent Rep. Jason Smith — said of Saturday when news of Biden’s victory was announced.

Andy Leighton

Andy Leighton, chairman of the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Committee, described Biden’s election as “a return to normalcy.”

“When I woke up on Nov. 9, 2016, I felt like we had entered Bizarro World, and today is a return to normalcy,” Leighton said. “When I say normalcy, I mean that we now have a leader who will at least attempt to restore American’s trust and belief in their institutions of government and the proper way for people in our democracy to participate.”

Leighton acknowledged that although he is not a Trump supporter, there were many people who liked and voted for him across the country.

“I do understand that people have looked at him as a leader — they like the way he beats up his opponents, but there is no long term in that, as he now knows,” Leighton said.

Ellis said with the election of Biden as the next president, she took that as the American people saying they are ready to move in a different direction from the way things have been done for the past four years.

“I think that this selection is one of the things that tells me that there are people that have integrity, and people have the ability to realize that we need someone in charge who’s actually doing the job, instead of just being on camera all the time,” Ellis said. “I think it’s going to be a difficult transition, but I think, in the long run, we are going to see some very positive changes. And I think that when we have people in office that have integrity, that they pull the nation along in that direction, and I’m hopeful that will happen.”

With Biden’s 47 years in Congress, Leighton and Ellis agreed he has the experience and knowledge in politics to help him navigate disputes in the White House.

“I think Biden will use his extensive experience from working in Congress to bring both sides together,” Leighton said. “I believe the Democrats will remain in control of the House, but it is apparent that either the Republicans will control the Senate — or at the very least be involved in a tie — in which case, there will potentially be many votes that will have to be resolved by the vice president, but President-elect Biden will work with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to bring both sides together to compromise and move this country forward.”

Leighton added Harris can benefit from Biden’s knowledge and experience, as well.

“Joe Biden will set the stage, or attempt to set the stage, to be the president of all Americans, and to do so with dignity and respect,” Leighton said. “And I hope and pray that as (former President Barack) Obama did with Biden, that Biden will do that with Kamala Harris and put her in charge of important things in the administration, and take advantage of her skills to work with Congress to bring this country together towards common goals.”

Ellis said she thinks it’s going to take a lot longer than Biden’s presidency to bridge the divide between Democrats and Republicans across the nation.

“We have to really look at issues, as opposed to parties,” Ellis said. “As long as we’re looking at party, then we’re not going to make many strides forward.”

Ellis and Leighton both discredited Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud, stating they have seen zero evidence to back up tho claims.

Leighton offered some advice following this election period: “Be kind to one another. We’re all neighbors — we’re all Americans.”