Trump Elected 47th US President

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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On Wednesday morning, some woke up with a sense of victory and others with a sense of fear.

Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Tuesday after a tight race with Democrat Kamala Harris. According to the Associated Press, Trump has secured 51 percent of the vote to Harris' 47.5 percent.

Trump has 292 of the required 270 electoral votes, with Harris garnering 224.

The former president delivered his victory speech in West Palm Beach Wednesday morning while the crowd chanted "USA, USA, USA." He called this the "greatest political movement of all time" and promised to deliver the "golden age of America."

"We're going to help our country heal. Help our country heal. We have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly. We're going to fix our borders. We're going to fix everything about our country," Trump said.

"We've made history for a reason tonight and the reason is going to be just that we overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing."

Harris was to deliver a concession speech at 4 p.m. at Howard University in Washington.

AP called this an "extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts."

Massachusetts has reported about 97 percent of its votes, with Harris securing more than 2 million votes representing 61.4 percent and Trump seeing 36.4 percent of the vote or about 1.2 million.

Pittsfield, the county's largest community, has about 99 percent of its votes counted, according to the AP.  Harris saw 70.6 percent support, 14,439 votes, and Trump saw 27.5 percent support, 5,628 votes.



Trump's Project 2025 plans are regarded as a threat to democracy and basic human rights, threatening reproductive rights, LGBTQ-plus rights, and immigrants' rights among others. Supporters believe he can address the nation's economic crisis and see positives in securing the border.

On Wednesday morning, re-elected state representative for the 2nd Berkshire District Tricia Farley-Bouvier acknowledged that it may be a hard day for those who oppose these policies.

"Today: Rest. Be kind to yourself. Do something nice for someone else. Tomorrow: Repeat. We'll get through this…," she wrote on Facebook.

Elizabeth Warren secured her third term in the U.S. Senate, fending off Republican challenger John Deaton with 59.8 percent of the votes counted so far, compared to Deaton's 40.3 percent.

Yesterday on social media, Warren said the right to an abortion, health care, social security, and "our very democracy" is on the ballot.

"Today, we have the power. The power to fight for our families, protect our freedoms, and determine our futures. The power to build an America where all of our kids can thrive," she wrote on Facebook.

"Use your power."

Richard Neal was re-elected to the U.S. House for the Massachusetts 1st Congressional District over independent challenger Nadia Milleron with 62.6 percent of the vote so far.

According to AP, Republicans currently outweigh the Senate in a 43:52 ratio with five to be called. It is similar with the House, representing an 186:201 ratio with 48 to be called.


Tags: election 2024,   president,   

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Dalton, Other Communities See High, Peaceful Turnout

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

DALTON, Mass. — The Senior Center parking lot was overflowing around 5:30 p.m. as voters cast their ballots. Town Clerk Heather Hunt said there were people waiting outside of the door at 7:45 a.m. and it had been a constant push since.

Of the town's 5,000 registered voters, about 1,600 voted by mail, about 500 voted early in person, and so far about 1,500 had voted on Tuesday.

Supporters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump co-existed peacefully while sign holding from the time the polls opened, multiple sources said.

"There was no animosity here today. It was a good crowd of people," said Robert Collins, who was holding a sign for state representative candidate Marybeth Mitts.

Michele Marantz, chair of the Dalton Democratic Town Committee, said Harris is the candidate who is looking to the future and whose dynamic is to join people together, as opposed to drive people apart.

"We have a very, very diverse community in this country and we're not going to function as a community unless we can all learn to work together and I think that that needs to be a priority," she said.

"I also have to mention that I'm supporting her because I think it would be fantastic for us to have a woman president and very exciting moment in our history and long overdue."

Marantz said she is passionate about environmental issues, which also influences her vote. She emphasized that climate change is taking a toll on the earth and peoples' pocketbooks and that "we are not going to be able to afford repairing the destruction that seems to be in our future."

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