By John Lynds
Business tycoon and reality television star, Donald Trump, was elected as President of the United States last Tuesday night despite almost every poll indicating Hillary Clinton was a sure winner. Trump’s win was met with immediate protests in the nation and in Eastie Trump’s campaign rhetoric of promising to deport millions of immigrants was met with anxiety and uncertainty.
In East Boston, voters overwhelmingly voted for Clinton. Clinton received 9,035 votes in Eastie while Trump received only 2,824 votes. The vote totals in the heavily Democratic stronghold of Eastie were not surprising as Clinton received endorsements from Eastie’s elected officials, the Ward I Democratic Committee and Mayor Martin Walsh.
In Eastie’s 14 Precincts Clinton did the worst in Precinct 11 where she only received 61 percent of the vote to Trump’s 33 percent. However in every other Eastie precinct, Clinton beat Trump anywhere from 68 percent to as high as 78 percent.
However, Trumps victory in the Electoral College, which made him President-Elect on Tuesday was met with unease in Eastie’s Latino community . In a neighborhood that is 52 percent Latino according to the last census but is becoming increasingly gentrified, Latinos here are worried families may be torn apart.
“There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty but we have to see how it goes,” said local business owner Luis Garcia. “i think people worry about changes but eventually it usually levels out. We all know that sometimes what people say when they are running for office is different when they get into office. I think now families are worried that a brother or a sister or a mother could be sent back to their countries.”
Garcia added that although Trump’s campaign position on immigration was met with harsh criticism from the left, there are certain aspects that make sense and could be the reason nearly 30 percent of Latinos nationwide voted for him.
“A lot of people are coming from countries that have a lot of violence and crime,” said Garcia. “Some of these people have gotten into trouble in their country, they come here and unfortunately repeat their behavior.”
Garcia pointed to the recent raids and deportations of MS-13 gang members from Eastie in recent years that were responsible for violent crimes, drug dealing and murders.
This sentiment was shared by City Councilor Sal LaMattina but added that there should be a path to citizenship for hard working immigrants living in Eastie.
“I support President-elect Trump’s view regarding any undocumented immigrants that are criminals,” said LaMattina. “However, I feel that there should be a pathway to citizenship for any immigrants who have come here and are trying to better their lives and have not been a problem in the community. If they are working hard and being good neighbors then they should be allowed to work towards citizenship.”
In local election news, former Boston City Councilor Stephen Murphy was elected Suffolk County Register of Deeds against three candidates,M. Ciampa-Coyne, Joseph Donnelly and John Keith.
In Eastie, Murphy finished the night with 7,021 votes while M. Ciampa-Coyne finished second with 1,572 Eastie votes. Donnelly finished third with 656 votes and Keith rounded out the Eastie vote for the office with 613 votes.
Citywide Murphy ended the night in Boston with 160,010. Ciampa-Coyne got 27,446 votes, Keith received 16,302 votes and Donnelly got 15,023.
Both Rep. Adrian Madaro and Sen. Joseph Boncore ran unopposed and were re-elected to office last Tuesday.