From pride to relief to claims of fraud: Reaction to Biden victory runs the gamut on the SouthCoast

Like the majority of the country, local SouthCoast officials are divided about the results of the presidential election which saw former Vice President Joe Biden overtake incumbent President Donald Trump after the long ballot counting process finally came to a close.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren put out a statement on Saturday that stated, in part, "Millions of little girls who see themselves in Kamala will dream a little bigger tonight. Joe and Kamala will bring decency and competence to the White House. They understand what’s at stake and will lead us forward with purpose and moral clarity."

She went on to say there is much work to be done to fight the coronavirus crisis and rebuild the economy, and to find ways to heal the divisions that exist in this country. "We must keep pushing until we’ve built the America of our greatest imaginations. So that when our children and grandchildren ask what we did to emerge from this dark chapter, we can say: We organized, we persisted—and we changed America."

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, on the other hand, who has been a vocal Trump supporter and was named honorary chairman of the president’s Massachusetts re-election effort, called the election process over the past few days “not good for the country” and stood by Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

“I can’t say that the election is being stolen [from Trump], I do believe that there’s likely fraud, based on what I’ve seen so far it appears that [fraud] is very likely,” Hodgson said.

The Associated Press, however, called the race for Biden as president-elect Saturday morning.

During a televised statement on Thursday, Trump told the nation that Democrats, the news media, nonpartisan election workers, and others worked to steal the election from him and deny him a second term through fraud.

The New York Times reported that Trump did not produce a shred of evidence to back up his claims and many stations cut away from the broadcast.

When asked about the president’s claims of fraud, Hodgson said he believes the president must have evidence from sources on the ground, and “Well I mean I know how this president operates, that’s not something he would have just said.”

Another area Republican’s views about Trump’s claiming fraud without sharing evidence differ from Hodgson’s.

“I don’t agree with it,” Brock Cordeiro the Republican State Committeeman from the Second Bristol & Plymouth State Senate District and vice chair for the Trump re-election campaign in Massachusetts, “I would rather see the president go on traditional media, social media and state fully the evidence as he understands it.”

He said he’s not a fan of just throwing something on the wall and seeing if it sticks.

Any evidence of voter fraud should be explored fully in the courts, according to Cordeiro, and if there isn’t evidence, the claims of voter fraud should be put to an end.

“The fear of voter fraud should not trump the actual evidence of voter fraud,” Cordeiro said.

U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy Tweeted out links to the news of Biden's win with the messages "Boom!" and "Thank God."

U.S. Rep. William Keating, said the mail-in and early voting allowed people to vote more safely during the pandemic and people were given notice ahead of time that results would be delayed.

Keating did say he believed in some states like Pennsylvania where the state legislature prevented ballots from being counted prior to election day, it led to an unnecessary delay.

“I think going forward through similar situations it would be helpful if local legislators [allow ballots to be counted ahead of the election],” Keating said.

As for Trump’s claims of fraud, Keating said, “What he did was something no other president has come close to doing...it was wrong.”

The congressman said that every American including the president has the ability to seek redress in courts and any elected official should respect the voting process.

The election saw historic turnout, with Biden receiving the most votes of any presidential candidate in history.

“I think there’s a lot of dissatisfaction in the way the country was going,” Keating said of the high turnout, citing the pandemic and the economic devastation that came with it as a driving factor.

As a Trump supporter and someone who worked for his re-election, Cordeiro said he was certainly disappointed by the results but that the president outperformed his expectations.

“We did not have the blue crushing wave across the country that might have been projected,” Cordeiro said.

There’s also an upside to the results, according to Cordeiro.

“I think there’s great inroads for the Republican Party even in this loss,” Cordeiro said, noting that Trump picked up support in cities like New Bedford and Fall River.

In Fall River, Trump received 42.8% of the vote, which was the city’s highest result for a Republican candidate in at least 50 years.

Meanwhile, in New Bedford, Trump received 37.4% of the vote.

“There’s no cause for doom and gloom in the Massachusetts Republican Party,” Cordeiro said.

There are still questions to be asked about the election process, according to Hodgson, who himself questioned the different dates mail-in ballots could be postmarked by and stories of people not being allowed to watch the ballots counted.

Hodgson called it unfortunate that recounts and lawsuits are happening and said the election didn't have to be this way.

Despite differing opinions about the election results, all four men said they are hopeful there will not be any violent responses to the election results in the SouthCoast.