As the nation voted to put Donald Trump back into office last week, preliminary numbers from the San Diego County Registrar of Voter’s office show that Coronado did not join the trend.
In fact, with 4,580 votes for Kamala Harris and 3,897 votes for Trump counted as of Nov. 11, so far the community appears to favor the Democratic ticket.
Votes are still being counted so these numbers won’t be finalized until the race is certified.
Yet, the number of registered voters for each party in Coronado reflects the opposite tendency: There are 3,602 registered Democrats in Coronado and 4,244 registered Republicans. These numbers were reported by San Diego County on Nov. 1.
At the voting center in Coronado on election day, voters seemed divided on who they were choosing.
For instance, Stephanie Price, 38, said she cast her ballot for Kamala Harris out of fear about how Trump might treat women and the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’m voting for her to protect women’s reproductive rights,” said Price on Nov. 5. “I’m also queer, and the opposing side has a lot of LGBTQ stuff on the docket for Project 2025, which is terrifying. Kamala is just incredible as opposed to Trump.”
Many of Harris’ supporters at the voting center on election day, predominantly women, shared similar sentiments to Price.
Meanwhile, supporters of the now president-elect Trump talked about their unwavering confidence in his leadership.
Robert Weichelt, 58, and his wife, Carla Weichelt, both voted for Trump – with Robert calling their decision the “common sense” choice.
“The border — big deal. Fentanyl – unacceptable. The economy needs to roar again,” said Robert Weichelt on Nov. 5.
Lori Doyle, president of the Coronado Democratic Club, offering personal opinions, said that the best description for the election outcome isn’t shock, but rather a deep sadness that the very party that has worked to provide assistance for struggling families and individuals will not be able to achieve results to ease the burdens on hard-working Americans.
“I’m not an expert on the analysis of the results,” Doyle said, “but privately, Republican friends had shared that while they have no intention of changing their political affiliation, they could not bring themselves to vote for a convicted felon who has continued to share false information that causes harm to others, and has been vocal in his desire to dismantle systems of checks and balances that he feels limit his power.”
Rhonda Fleming, Membership Chair of the Republican Women of Coronado, said the fact that Trump won the electoral vote by a landslide – and received the most popular votes – should send a clear message that American voters are fed up with the policies of the Biden/Harris administration and want new leadership.
She added that the other dynamic at play in Coronado’s election is the fact that the city has a substantial number of no-party affiliation and independent voters.
“The Comedian Bill Maher recently said it best …. The Democratic Party needs to take a long, hard look at itself following the defeat and realize that Americans want common sense policies,” Fleming said.
“We hope that the country can heal and that we can all move past the division and divisiveness that has permeated our society for the past many years,” she added. “We all have more in common with each other than what separates us. It is time to lower the political temperature and return to being family, neighbors and friends. We live in the greatest country in the world and it is time to come together as one nation under God!”
