as the race for the white house turned into a close contest, with republican donald trump looking much stronger than expected, trump supporters across the u.s. voiced cautious optimism, and many hillary clinton supporters began to fret. cheryl perez, a homemaker from chula vista, calif., near san diego, said tuesday night as the race tightened that the prospect of a trump victory makes her very happy. <u+201c>i have hope for my kids<u+2019> future for the first time in a long time,<u+201d> she said. ms. perez, who said she is nearing 60 years old, has a daughter who is 18 and a son who is 24. both are college students. she said she was particularly worried because her children<u+2019>s generation has been <u+201c>saddled with trillions of dollars of debt.<u+201d> linda morales, a houston resident and clinton supporter, said she started tuesday optimistic that most voters would reject mr. trump. <u+201c>his campaign has been a campaign of lies, a campaign of hate,<u+201d> said ms. morales, an organizing director for the local afl-cio. <u+201c>what he has done is given bullies the right to be bullies.<u+201d> but as election returns came in and mr. trump maintained a lead over his democratic rival, ms. morales, 61, started anxiously going over the electoral votes left in uncalled states. <u+201c>i kept telling people, <u+2018>don<u+2019>t worry, don<u+2019>t worry,<u+2019> <u+201d> she said tuesday night as she watched an election night newscast from a democratic watch party for a local candidate. <u+201c>i know it<u+2019>s not over yet, but i<u+2019>m worried.<u+201d> as the night went on, the buoyant attitude at a democratic watch party in manchester, new hampshire<u+2019>s largest city, deflated as returns showed mr. trump with unexpected strength in swing states. <u+201c>all the trends were going in our favor but now they<u+2019>ve shifted to the other side so we<u+2019>re a little downtrodden,<u+201d> said bob mitchell, 76, a retired state transportation budget official. <u+201c>i<u+2019>ve literally never been this depressed about an election,<u+201d> said jennifer senecal, 35, a waitress at a manchester restaurant who watched the tv in the bar after her shift near 1 a.m. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m very disappointed in my country,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>did no one watch the debates?<u+201d> the roller coaster of a night came as many voters tuesday<u+2014>regardless of who they supported<u+2014>voiced a common dirge: weariness at the divisions revealed by the election, and anxiety over what comes next. republican diane salter of spring garden township, pa., said she almost didn<u+2019>t vote but decided to in part because pennsylvania was a swing state. the 52-year-old registered nurse cast an unenthusiastic vote for mr. trump even though <u+201c>he has done a lot of stupid things.<u+201d> she felt better voting for him than for mrs. clinton because she feared her election would mean a <u+201c>continuation of corruption and secrets.<u+201d> ms. salter said the election may mean no more campaign <u+201c>craziness,<u+201d> but she added, <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t think that it<u+2019>s the end. no matter who wins, we<u+2019>re going to face some struggles.<u+201d> capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for election 2016 news. democrat jennifer brillhart, a 36-year-old clinton supporter who lives outside york, pa., said she was only somewhat glad to see the rancorous campaign end. that is because the election signals the end of president barack obama <u+2019>s presidency, and <u+201c>i love obama,<u+201d> said ms. brillhart, executive director of the york county food bank. alfred lamontagne, a 64-year-old baker from cary, n.c., voted for mr. trump but said the campaign was exhausting and dirty on both sides. <u+201c>if it had been more of the issues and less of the mudslinging, i<u+2019>d have been happier,<u+201d> he said. mr. lamontagne said he liked that mr. trump had business experience. daniella bustamante, a 22-year-old restaurant server and business-management major at miami-dade college, said she voted for mrs. clinton, though unenthusiastically. in the democratic primary, she backed vermont sen. bernie sanders, who she thought addressed middle-class and college-tuition issues more effectively. but contemplating the prospect of mr. trump as president was enough to get her fired up. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m completely against him,<u+201d> said ms. bustamante, a democrat, citing his remarks about immigrants. <u+201c>how are you going to run a country when you don<u+2019>t respect your people?<u+201d> fred butron, a 45-year-old restaurant manager, and a republican, said <u+201c>i just feel i can<u+2019>t trust<u+201d> mr. trump. mr. butron, who is from miami, said he voted for mrs. clinton because he thinks she would be more effective at unifying the country. <u+201c>she wants to work with democrats and republicans,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s what we need.<u+201d> trump supporters out for the night on the las vegas strip said they were constantly checking their phones and were cautiously optimistic<u+2014>and very surprised<u+2014>by the returns. <u+201c>i thought [mrs. clinton] would win,<u+201d> said roumi gold, who voted for mr. trump in california. <u+201c>then i was like, <u+2018>maybe we do have a chance.<u+2019><u+201d> <u+201c>it<u+2019>s a shock and a nice surprise,<u+201d> said ms. gold, 40, a stay-at-home mother out for a girls<u+2019> night out in las vegas. another trump supporter out in las vegas, amy knight, said she was still nervous even as results looked positive for mr. trump. ms. knight, a 45-year-old pharmacist in las vegas, was dining at a restaurant at aria casino and checking her phone constantly throughout the meal to find out what was happening with the election. she had voted for mr. trump in nevada because she thinks mrs. clinton is <u+201c>a candidate built upon lies and lies<u+201d> but wasn<u+2019>t enthusiastic about him. <u+201c>i am hoping trump will surround himself with good people and take the country in the right direction,<u+201d> ms. knight said. <u+2014>alexandra berzon, arian campo-flores, scott calvert and valerie bauerlein contributed to this article. write to jennifer levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com , erin ailworth at erin.ailworth@wsj.com and john r. emshwiller at john.emshwiller@wsj.com
close race divided anxious electorate - wsj
jennifer levitz erin ailworth john r. emshwiller