Spokane County GOP celebrates election results with optimism, message of unity
Although some races were too close to call early Tuesday night, Spokane County Republicans liked the direction the election was heading.
The party gathered, some dressed in red blazers and ties, in the Grand Pennington Ballroom of downtown Spokane’s Historic Davenport Hotel as they waited for results to come in.
“There’s a lot of celebration in the atmosphere, and I think that’s a really good thing,” Airway Heights City Councilwoman Jennifer Morton said. “I don’t sense any negativity or vitriol … This election is very different from past ones that I’ve seen.”
MJ Bolt, chair of the Spokane County Republican Party, said early results from the East Coast looked positive.
“We are excited, but also cautious,” Bolt said, noting that in Washington it could take more than a week for results to be finalized. “History has taught us to be cautious and hang tight.”
Victor Yefremov, a newly elected precinct committee officer who will officially join the party leadership in January, said he believes Trump is going to win.
“I’m just very happy how things are going so far,” Yefremov said.
An enormous cheer broke out at about 8:14 p.m. when the screen showed Michael Baumgartner, the Republican candidate for Washington’s 5th Congressional District, far ahead of his Democratic opponent Carmela Conroy.
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is retiring from the position after 20 years, spoke to the crowd, thanking them for the opportunity to serve.
“Every election, we get to reaffirm who we are,” McMorris Rodgers said. She concluded by passing a symbolic red baton to Baumgartner, and gave him and his family hugs as she left the stage.
In his remarks, Baumgartner delivered a message of unity and civility.
“The political divisiveness, tribalism in America really weighs heavily on our hearts,” Baumgartner said. He called on the crowd to keep the spirit of unity from former President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address alive in the coming weeks and months.
“We are all Americans,” Baumgartner said. “Democrats are our opponents, but they’re not our enemies.”
Laura Sheikh contributed to this story.