GREENFIELD — After days of obsessively checking the news — anxious for the latest updates on the presidential election — at least one Wendell resident let out a sigh of relief.
“I’ve been waiting,” Anna Gyorgy said on Saturday afternoon. “I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night; I’ve checked first thing in the morning. This is a great relief.”
Just before noon on Saturday — after several long election days — the Associated Press declared former Vice President Joe Biden the winner of the presidential race over incumbent President Donald Trump, after Biden garnered Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes.
Downtown, residents from across Franklin County who spoke to the Greenfield Recorder said they were relieved to hear the news — but also ready for a “tough” few months ahead.
“The next few months will be challenging,” Gyorgy said. “There’s still COVID, and Trump will still be president. … Can there be enough positive influence to moderate … his policies and tendencies?”
Acknowledging President Trump’s refusal as of Saturday afternoon to concede the presidency to his challenger, many residents said they hope for a “smooth transition.”
“I’m worried to see what Trump’s response will be,” said South Deerfield resident Rocky Shainwald. “I’m worried.”
Still, for residents such as Greenfield resident Cynthia Clifford, it was “amazing” to be out with the community at the moment their candidate was named the projected winner of the race for president.
“It was really cool to be out here,” Clifford said.
She was referencing members of the community, many of whom typically stand with signs on the Greenfield Common for the weekly Black Lives Matter vigil, who gave thumbs up to drivers who honked their horns as they passed through downtown.
Across the street, Lindy Whiton was on her way to a community art show at the LAVA Center when she heard the news.
“I just think the whole thing is so complex,” Whiton said.
She said this election showed there was more work to do with respect to improving voter access and engagement, particularly within the Indigenous population.
“Right at this moment, it’s relieving,” she said. “I’m very happy. I’m proud of Georgia.”
Although Georgia had not yet been called as of Saturday afternoon, the state was poised to flip to blue for the first time since 1992, according to the AP.
Standing outside Bonnie B’s Country Kitchen, Shainwald credited Georgia’s tight race to the efforts of activist and politician Stacey Abrams, who has worked over the last several years to address voter suppression in her state, and to increase voter turnout.
“It’s been really fantastic to see how that’s been coming to light,” she said.
Shainwald and Rachel Skorupka, two South Deerfield residents who were in Greenfield on Saturday, were among those who voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, but supported Biden in his presidential run. Shainwald, who said she’d been checking the election news regularly, said she breathed a “sigh of relief” when it was announced Biden was the projected winner.
“I’m just so tired,” Skorupka added.
Ann Keen said she thought a Biden presidency may promote a less divisive political culture, and would be less stressful for the American public.
“I have a distinct feeling that he’s more the type of person who’s going to work to have people come together to accomplish things, and to work across the aisle, instead of having this awful partisan division where nothing gets done,” she said.
Trump’s public response to news that he likely lost the election wasn’t surprising, Keen said, but not especially concerning.
“He’s going to play it out until the end, and that’s OK if that’s what he has to do in order to accept defeat,” she said. “He won’t go down from anything without a fight. That’s part of who he is, I suppose.
“I’m very relieved he wasn’t re-elected. I think it’s going to de-stress a lot of people,” Keen added. “Of course, it isn’t going to de-stress the Trump supporters.”
Returning home from his press trip in Wilmington, Del., South Deerfield resident Max Hartshorne said there was a sense of “palpable relief” in Biden’s hometown.
“There was a sense of, ‘We’re finally getting what we deserved,’” he said.
In a statement Saturday, Congressman Jim McGovern said he looks forward to working with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris — the first woman and first person of color to be elected into the role.
“After years of divisiveness, the power of the White House will once again be used to bring our country together instead of tearing us apart,” he wrote. “I look forward to working with the Biden administration to crush this virus, safely reopen our economy, rebuild our middle class, repair the damage of the last four years and restore American leadership around the world.”
Sen. Ed Markey, who defeated challenger Kevin O’Connor in his race for re-election, called it a historic victory for the country.
“We will rebuild and emerge stronger under the leadership of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” he said. “There will surely be hard times to come, but brighter days are ahead.”