Members of the Perry County Republican Party gathered at the Grecian Steak House in Pinckneyville, Illinois, to take in election results.
While there wasn’t any question who the attendees voted for, there was a differing sense of security surrounding a Donald Trump victory.
“That’s always a concern,” Mike Fisher said.
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“It could be either or,” Penny Hawk said.
While Fisher and Hawk were uneasy about whether Trump or Kamala Harris would win, Jessie James had no doubt that Trump would prevail.
“We expect this just the way it’s going,” James said.
Donny Kincannon, holding a beer nestled in a Trump can coozie and his face illuminated by a TV playing Fox’s coverage of the election results, wasn’t nervous about watching the results come in. He was more concerned about what would happen if Trump didn’t win.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have another four more years of what we dealt with, with the economy, the price growth increase… it doesn’t affect me that bad, I’m lucky enough that it didn’t hurt me that bad, but there’s a lot of people that it does hurt a lot,” Kincannon said.
James, wearing a Trump 2020 hat, is among many that feel that Trump is what’s needed for the United States.
To Mike Fisher, a retired state employee, Trump was the candidate of choice, no matter what issue was at hand.
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“He’s the best choice for the economy, for immigration, jobs, you name it, everything. Trump’s the best candidate, for sure,” Fisher said. “My personal feeling is he has the best interest of the United States at hand.”
Hawk, who owns a hair salon, is very enthusiastic about Trump and his economic policies and is “100% for changing this economy around.”
Hawk, adorned in a green Tricia Chandler County Clerk T-shirt, who won the Perry County Clerk’s Office and was being celebrated at the Republican gathering, said, “Being a small-business owner, the prices that we see, with the increases in our products, and then what we have to charge in turn and to go to the grocery store, it’s outrageous.”
While many Republicans are all-in on Trump’s policies, they are willing to concede that he isn’t a perfect candidate.
“How he carries himself, and the things he says about other people… I’m not for that,” Kincannon said.
Fisher was similar in thought, saying, “You can do the job that you’re doing, but you don’t have to talk to people the way that you’re talking. That’s my only negative with Donald Trump… maybe that’s why it’s so effective.”
The concern over what may happen to the United States if Trump isn’t elected was real for Bruce Rhodely, a farmer and the Perry County Republican Chair.
“I just pray for America, I pray for (the younger) generation… You may not agree with everyone’s ideas on a certain party, but the thing of it is, the people that are best for this country, this county, this state, to make this a better place for our children and our grandchildren,” Rhodely said. “We don’t have any hidden agendas to try to control people… we just want there to be opportunity, something here for the next few generations.”
As he leaned against the dark, polished wood of the Grecian Steakhouse’s bar, Jessie James, a contractor, harkened back to one of the foundational concepts of the United States.
“I think all the American people just want the American dream… Everyone in this country, in the world, wants the same thing. And I think that this is the way we got to by going with the beliefs of what the Republicans feel,” James said.
Reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.
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