This Tuesday, November 3, Westborough High School was bustling with voters of all political affiliations ready to cast their ballots. While results around the country are being called into question, how Westborough voted is unquestioned. While Tuesday’s official results are not yet available, the town’s preliminary ballot count is publicly available. From the results, it is clear who the preferred candidates were.

Westborough voted heavily for Democrats at the federal level, preferring to oust President Trump and elect Joe Biden by a roughly 4,700 vote margin, with 71.1% of votes for the former Vice President and 26.1% votes for President Trump. Vice President Biden added 3,271 to his 2016 total in Westborough, while President Trump only gained four. There was an 8% increase from the 2016 election in the number of people who voted for Biden as the number was 10,608.

Senior Courtney Blumberg found the outcome to be predictable: “Although I’m not surprised Joe Biden won Massachusetts, I was impressed with the voter turnout, and the number of students and young people getting involved.”

In non-Presidential races, Democrats won the town in all races but one, where Hannah Kane was re-elected to the State House of Representatives unopposed. The voters returned Ed Markey and James McGovern to the US Senate and House of Representatives respectively, as well as re-electing State Representatives Carolyn Dykema and Danielle Gregoire. Westborough voted for a narrow margin for Democratic challenger John Dolan in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Worcester County Register of Probate Stephanie Fattman.

Senior Bridget Lord volunteered on Ed Markey’s campaign due to his progressive policies on key issues such as climate change and healthcare.

She states: “Westborough voted for a progressive present and future this November. I was not surprised by the results. As a Campaign Fellow for Ed Markey for Senate 2020, I know that I and so many other amazing people, mostly 25 and younger, worked so hard to re-elect a Senator that we sincerely believe in. We fought for him because he fights for us, and I’m proud of the results!”

While Westborough is a Democratic stronghold, there is a sizable Republican minority. Senior Dan Hastings is a proud Republican who supported President Trump for his economic and foreign policy agenda.

He describes a process of digital ostracization for Republicans like himself: “People put polls on their Instagram stories asking which candidate you support, and if you say you support Trump, they unfollow you.”

He also emphasized that his political views have lost him friends in the real world.

“There has been a lot of shaming of Trump supporters where people have told me that I support racism or fascism, which I really don’t believe to be the case.”

Speaking to Trump supporters, Lord had some strong words: “I would ask them where their Black friends, their Latinx friends, their LGBTQ+ friends are. Do you know that you voted in violation of their human rights? Can you live with that?”

Hastings focused on nationwide voting trends.

“President Trump won the most minority support of any Republican Presidential candidate in the last 50 years. There has been a lot of shaming of Trump supporters, saying that if you support Trump you support a racist, but Trump has done so much for the black community in the past four years.”

He pointed to record low Black unemployment and a rise in funding for historically black colleges and universities under the Trump administration.

“A difference in political views doesn’t mean you have to hate the person, it just means you disagree,” he continued.

Lord was optimistic about the future: “I see much more bipartisan collaboration in the future. I think this election has shown us that there are so many politicians who genuinely want to serve their constituency and will fight for the people of their district, and when the goal is to support their people rather than pick policies based on party, real change can occur.”

Hastings stated: “I will support the President no matter who they are, and as a patriot I will hope for them to do well.”