While many parts of the country — and the world — were stunned by Donald Trump’s upset win Tuesday night, there was one place in Alaska where people claimed they saw it coming all along.
True believers gathered at a Trump campaign watch party at Flattop Pizza in downtown Anchorage. When Fox News officially called the race at about 10:40 p.m., the room erupted in rapturous cheers.
John MacKinnon was taking in the scene with his wife, Republican state Sen. Anna MacKinnon.
“I think we’re seeing America come out and say, ‘We’ve had enough,'” he said. “Enough regulation. Enough government. Enough telling us what we have to do and not what we want to do.”
Meanwhile, Democrats gathered just across the street at the restaurant Williwaw were in shock. Many in the audience cried and consoled each other as the outcome became clear.
James Primm is vice president of the Alaska Young Democrats. He said he was sure Trump’s values were out of sync with the majority of voters — until he saw the results.
“I think a lot of people really thought they would reject Trump’s message,” Primm said. “And instead what you have is a lot of people who really seem to think that is the answer.”
That was clearly true in Alaska, where Trump was ahead nearly 52 to 37 percent with 94 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday morning.
Zachariah Hughes contributed to this report.Â
Rachel Waldholz covers energy and the environment for Alaska's Energy Desk, a collaboration between Alaska Public Media, KTOO in Juneau and KUCB in Unalaska. Before coming to Anchorage, she spent two years reporting for Raven Radio in Sitka. Rachel studied documentary production at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and her short film, A Confused War won several awards. Her work has appeared on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace, among other outlets.
rwaldholz (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8432 | About Rachel
