Isabella County party members finish election, share hopes for future

The venue at the Riverwood Resort was site of the Isabelle County Democratic Party. Cathy Willermet, the Isabella County Democrats chair, was optimistic about the election and voter turnout.  

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She was also excited that Kamala Harris was running as the party’s presidential candidate, because she would “shatter the glass ceiling” if she were to become the first woman and woman of color to be elected president.  

“Kamala Harris came from single mom (family),” Willermet said. “They moved around a lot. She had to work hard, and I think that mindset shaped who they are and shaped their politics.  

“She is a person that's very empathetic in a lot of ways. She's really wants to make sure that people are heard.” 

Michael Lynch, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress in Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, said that Harris also made the election interesting and engaging for younger people. 

“My hope for tonight is that our country finds a direction, and that we can all come together to work hard to move in that direction ... and strive for the greatness of this country,” he said. 

Mount Pleasant resident Jane Fox voted for Harris and Tim Waltz to bring back civility, understanding and acceptance of people who are immigrants or members of the LGBTQ+ community. She said Harris brings newer thoughts and understanding of women’s rights and healthcare to the table. 

“I believe that they are good, moral, ethical people,” she said.  

Sitting member of the non-partisan Mount Pleasant City Commission Boomer Winegard was driven by issues such as climate change, which he described as the biggest topic driving him into politics.

He was optimistic on the outlook for Vice President Harris, referring to high voter turnout that he has seen coming from students in both Mount Pleasant and Union Township. 

"I think younger people especially recognize just the absurdity of lot of what's going on with (Former President and Republican candidate Donald) Trump and the top of the ticket there," he said. He is hopeful "that we can keep Trump out of office and bring a bit of civility back to national politics."

He noted that, despite having a Democratic president in office, Harris had to shift a lot of her policies further to the right to pick up more moderate and conservative voters.  

He picked immigration as an example of this shift, saying the Democratic party used be focused on protecting Dreamers and creating pathways to citizenship. Winegard said that the party hasn't stopped that focus, but that it has gotten harder to have these conversations.

Mount Pleasant resident Laura Gourlay said she hopes Kamala Harris and Democrats across the ballot win.  

“Her campaign was a campaign of hope, of looking at taking the United States in a direction that I think would be not only inclusive but welcoming of a wide variety of people, using love and hope and change and energy," she said. "As opposed to the candidate who is talking about punishment and keeping people out and really a lot of hypocrisy on the other side.” 

After the election, she said, people should hold the Democratic party accountable for promises on issues of education, climate and war in Gaza. 

Willermet said that Republican candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric is dark, not optimistic and not empathetic.  

“One of the things that I think is happening with the people we call the ‘MAGA’ Republican ... they really want to be heard, and they think Donald Trump is listening to them, but he's really not,” she said.  

Fox said that she fears Trump’s victory.  

“I don't believe he's an ethical, good (or) kind person and (he) thinks about himself a lot,” she said. “I believe that he doesn't tell the truth, and I believe that other leaders of other countries are aware of that. ... I fear that if we don't have the leadership that isn’t a strong leadership, it's not good for the United States.” 

If Trump wins, party Chair Willermet said she will be worried about the future and the younger generation because he doesn’t recognize people who are different, and sees the diversity of the United States as a weakness. 

“I'm not anti-Republican or anti-Republican Party,” she said. “I am anti-Trump and his worldview, because ... I don't think he sees America right, like for all of it; he sees this little narrow wedge of America.” 

But, Willermet said, Trump has already been the President, and if he wins again, the Democratic party will continue “to be the voice of people who feel that the country deserves someone who has a better view of their fellow Americans than (Trump) does.” 

She also said that in future, the Isabella County Democrats will continue to encourage the state party to expand their attention to rural areas. 

Willermet said in past, there have been people in Isabella County who were afraid to put yard signs so that their neighbors don’t find out that they are Democrat. 

“We just want to make sure that their voices are heard,” she said. “There should be reasonable discourse about issues, because that's the whole point of politics ... to try to help us solve problems together. The more voices, there are more seats at the table, the better we can solve problems that can improve the lives of everyone.” 

Willermet said that today people who are not being civil when it comes to politics must stop, and they must be told to stop by their own party. 

“They need to have someone say, ‘look, you cannot behave this way,’” she said. “It is not civil. It's not American. It's not patriotic. We don't hate our fellow Americans.” 

Lynch also said that it is important to come together and work together as one nation to improve  quality of life. 

Lynch said that if elected to the U.S. House, he hopes to bring good jobs, reliable childcare and affordable housing to the district.  

He said he also cares about preserving Lake Michigan and Saginaw Bay, helping active-duty military and veterans because he comes from a family of an Air Force officer and a Marine, and about protecting women’s rights. 

“When I was 3 years old, my mother had a problem pregnancy and needed a procedure that now is not only illegal in the state where she had the procedure, but it's also illegal in 19 other states,” Lynch said. “So, I could have been left motherless at age 3 if we had lived in Arkansas.” 

If his opponent, Republican John Moolenaar, wins, Lynch said that he will continue his work helping the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe business development and will run again in two years.  

“I think that it's worth the effort, and the people of Mid-Michigan deserve somebody who's going to represent them, instead of representing special interests and things like that,” Lynch said. “We need a representative who is going to be honest with them and not use fear as a motivation to try to control people.” 

John D. Hayes, a Democrat who is running for Isbella County commissioner, seemed be in good spirts all round. Hayes is running on a platform of fighting childhood poverty and malnutrition and helping people deal with the increasing cost of essential goods, defined his goals if he would be elected.

"My goal would be to do as much as I can to try and help the people that are struggling to pay their bills and survive day-to-day."

On the state of the presidential race so far, Hayes immediately said "I think that Kamala is going to win tonight"

Nicole Hagle, a Democratic candidate running for Isabella County Board of Commissioners for the 1st District, is a marine veteran and a teacher for 18 years is running for bring a leadership that delivers accurate Information.

"I think right now we have a epidemic of disinformation and misinformation," Hagle said, continuing "I think we need leaders who are able to go in and answer questions and share information and do a better job of educating the public."

Hagle said her own race was going to be a slow one due to it's very rural location and that it was better to just see the votes come in on both her own and state and local races.

But speaking on Harris, Hagle said she believes she opportunity to turn the page.

"I think she has the ability to unite people, and I think she has the ability to facilitate more civil politics," and that "our odds of recovery and healing are better with her by far, "Hagle said.

But it won't be easy.

"I think she's going to have an uphill battle, because I don't think that the Republican agenda is going to go away entirely right away, it's not going to go away," Hagle said.

Republican watch party

At Isabella County Republican Headquarters Tuesday, watch party attendees had mixed feelings about what they would do if former President and candidate Donald Trump lost. But many agreed that he brought something new to the party.

“What’s the  Republican party gonna do if he loses?” attendee Aaron Rop asked rhetorically. “They’re just gonna have to dig deeper for the next election. I know Harris raised a lot of money, too.”

Larry Borton was chatty as he watched results come out. He talked about growing the Republican party to include more people.

“I think Trump has opened up this party to whole new peoples,” Borton said. “We’re more represented than we’ve ever been.

“We’re not a party of racists and homophones like the Democrats say we are. … The Republican party is a welcoming party and we hope to grow it even further. And that’s why Trump says that the media … they don’t report the truth. Because the truth would make him look good.”

He said that the news is mostly Democratic-leaning and will make any Republican look “as bad as you can look, or Democrats look as good as you can (make them) look.

“But we’re gonna keep growing our party … more and more inclusive, but there will come a point that we get too big to rig because we’re a party of the people. We’re not looking to start a war or anything. If we don’t win this time then we’ll be back at it next time.”

Lori Rogers was running for Union Township treasurer.

“The Republican party are strong people and no matter what happens we have to move on. There’s two candidates. One wins,” Rogers said with a shrug.

Rop said tonight that he can’t understand how anyone would vote for Kamala Harris or her policies.

“Like, she was asked if she would change anything in the last four years and she said no,” he said. 

He knows people don’t like Trump's attitude, but he said “he’s a businessman, he gets things done.”

He said he doesn’t doesn’t like the “open border policy” under Biden-Harris, or the country’s inflation, which is high but peaked during COVID. (This was at least partly due to low supply and high demand in the market). He also said he doesn’t like the current global unrest, and that Trump has no fault in that.

“Trump’s the first president in 82 years not to have a war,” Rop said. “Just, things are so bad. I don’t get it.”

He also said that Harris is an unknown factor.

“She’s been so quiet the last four years. People don’t know what she’s done,” Rop said.

Navy veteran Rickey Hickey said that Trump said multiple times that the Republican party was important for the success of America. He said he was really nonpartisan before Trump ran.

"The world feared Trump," said Hickey. "They feared him because he was fair in the way that he behaved. He has a massive amount of energy that isn't seen in today's politicians. We had growth, strong military, secure borders."

Attendee Larry Borton said he had attended a Trump rally in Detroit and was up until 4 a.m.

“He’s genuine, I think is the biggest thing,” Borton said. “He doesn’t try to play a part, he is a genuine individual. He’s not using a teleprompter. He doesn’t have to change his ways because he’s in front of a different audience.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a millionaire or a working man, it's the same story.”

Borton said he also likes how Trump’s children are all involved at different levels, and said they love him and respect him. He also likes Trump because he’s charitable, he said.

“He gave away every dollar that the United States ever paid him to a charity of his choice during his presidency. I’ve known that for years,” Borton said, not telling his source.

He also said that under Trump, Americans would be drilling their own oil, and that under Trump the border would be closed but open for legal immigration. He took a stance against trans people.

“Back when he was president, men didn’t win women’s beauty contests,” said Borton.

He said that too many men are playing in women’s sports and beating up women who might otherwise have successful careers.

Trump’s personality at a rally

“He’s awesome, he is so awesome,” said Linda Richardson who has also attended a Trump rally. “He’s funny, he gets the crowd going. It’s fun. He responds to the crowd and he gets energy from the crowd.”

She has seen two Trump rallies and one for J.D. Vance.

“He is fantastic,” Richardson said of Vance. “He is very well spoken, very informed. … He can be really funny. He’s energizing, but in a different way than Trump. He’s a very family man so that comes across. I feel he’s very centered around what matters for families.”

She said she likes his focus on education, that he will give people work opportunities and that he is helping through not taxing tips.

“Mothers with children like the tips thing. There should be no taxes on tips because mothers need that money,” Richardson said.

She also said Trump is bringing jobs back, especially auto. 

“He says he’s gonna make Michigan great again,” she said, noting that Trump would force other countries to match the tariffs they pay to what they demand of America.

“Because if they want their stuff to come in they have to pay tariffs.”

Central Michigan University Economist professor Jason Talyor said the Trump tariff would actually increase inflation.

"It's gonna cause goods to cost higher prices... because that's what tariffs are, prices in imported goods," he said.

Union Township's Rogers attended the event along with several other candidates.

“It’s oppressive. The whole atmosphere of all the anger and hate,” Rogers said of the atmosphere of the election.

“When you go on Facebook and see friends attacking friends it’s just crazy, it's heartbreaking,” she said. “I see 30-year friendships end. I got involved only to help but there’s far bigger things going on than my township.”

This is Rogers’ first time running for office. She said she has been going to meetings.

“Planning, zoning, every different meeting to see where I fit,” she said. “I want to improve the relationship between residents and township officials. As a business owner we’re responsible to finance business properly.”

She has positive feelings as the election comes to a close, she said.

“I’m relieved. I’ve been counting down the days from 60-something,” Rogers said. “I am a happy person. I live in a happy bubble. … I’m anxious to hit the ground running. We have stuff to do.”

CM Life staff reporters Corey Hogue and Grace Walker contributed to this report.