PORTLAND, Ore. — In a divided nation, it's not a surprise that Oregonians had varied reactions to Donald Trump winning the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Early Wednesday morning, the Associated Press projected Trump as the winner of the presidential reace over the Democrat candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Gabriel Buehler, chair of the Washington County GOP, said he believes swing voters broke for Trump in this election cycle because they didn't like what they saw from President Joe Biden and his administration.
"We got to see the Biden/Harris administration and I think people were dissatisfied," he said.
Buehler pointed to inflation as a main reason why Trump was reelected.
"When people go to the grocery store they see it," he said. "They know how much it costs to feed your family, to survive."
Others expressed fear about what a second Trump term could mean for democracy. One of those concerned Oregonians is Carol Wingate. KGW spoke with Wingate on Wednesday afternoon in Newberg.
Wingate said preserving democracy and women's health were the main issues she was concerned with this election cycle.
"I'm just terrified that the future president is going to do what he says he is going to do," she said.
Wingate pointed to Trump threatening political opponents as a reason why she's fearful of what could come.
"I just pray that we survive," she said.
Trump will become the second U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms in office. Grover Cleveland was the only president to hold that distinction for 130 years, when he returned to office in 1893.