After divisive election cycle, Tri-Cities voters have a lot of work ahead | Editorial
Tuesday's election didn't go the way that most Washingtonians wanted. Vice President Kamala Harris handily won the state, but former President Donald Trump won the electoral college.
With time, sadness gives way to acceptance. A divided nation must shake off the bitter partisan dust of the campaign and figure out how to work together for the next four years.
Trump has been a divisive force in politics, but during his victory speech he offered hope that his second term might be different. He said he would fight for "every citizen" and "help our country heal."
Many local Republicans clearly support moderation and responsible leadership as evidenced by the fact that incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse is winning his reelection bid as of this writing.
Even if late ballots turn against him, he will have competed strongly despite being one of the few Republican representatives who supported impeaching Trump.
Things will certainly change in politics and in the country as a new administration implements a radically different agenda from the past four years.
If Trump can resist his worst demons – both the metaphorical ones and the ones on the far right who will seek favor – he could build coalitions that supersede partisan divides.
He and his party must engage with people who called them terrible things during the campaign. It's time to put aside the nastiness, like the particularly vile racist attacks by the State Republican Party in the waning days against Latina candidates .
Democrats will not like many of the things that the second Trump administration does, but reflexively rejecting everything he wants to do is counterproductive.
Fight for Democratic ideals, but remember that compromise and dialogue with Republicans can temper the worst outcomes and might even get to some positive ones. At least give Trump a chance to show if he can be a uniter this time. If there's anything he loves, it's making a deal.
In the meantime, local voters fixated on national elections should spend a few minutes mulling over local outcomes, too.
In the Richland School District, voters rejected a $314 million bond measure to build a new high school in West Richland and renovate other schools. As of this writing, it had not even earned 50% support, let alone the 60% needed to pass.
Residents and parents who want to bolster their education system should question the School Board's wisdom in placing a huge request on the ballot when officials knew that there was a serious budget crunch in the offing.
The need is still there, but before the district comes back with another bond measure, it must increase transparency about its finances so that voters feel that they are getting tangible results for their tax dollars.
Two public safety measures in Franklin County also failed.
Voters' rejection of funding to modernize the 911 system is shortsighted. Local emergency services will operate with an aged, inefficient system. Leaders should come back soon with a revised measure and a better campaign to convince voters of the desperate need.
Voters also didn't support a sales tax to support Fire Protection District 1. That one was, perhaps, a victim of unfortunate timing, coming after Connell took a huge job hit from Lamb Weston's plant closure .
Voters showed sophistication when it came to statewide ballot measures. A measure to protect access to gas-powered appliances was leading narrowly, but three measures that would have proved hugely disruptive to state finances all were going down – repeal of a capital gains tax, gutting the state's cap-and-trade climate program and undermining long-term care coverage.
Those are issues that elected representatives should and did decide in Olympia. Their appearance on the ballot was an attempted end-around.
As the maxim goes, elections have consequences. But those consequences are not set in stone. They are the product of people of good conscience working together to build a better future.
