Las Animas County, the state’s largest geographically, mirrored the nation in the way it voted in recent presidential elections: twice for Barack Obama, and in 2016, decidedly for Donald Trump. As the midterm election nears, voters here – and across the state – are taking stock of the past two years as they prepare to head to the polls again.
“I think more people will vote,” said Jim Blecha, an oil and gas photographer who voted for Trump and lives in Trinidad.
However, many voters said Trump’s time in office so far will not impact how they vote in the upcoming election.
“I’m more worried about what’s happening locally,” said Cliff Wiening, a Democrat who voted for Trump. “My one vote, believe it or not, is not going to change the nation.”
Supporters and opponents said Trump’s rhetoric and personality negatively impact how he is perceived by the public, but some voters said they have been able to look past the president’s controversial use of Twitter and his public gaffes.
Check out the full discussion below in "Colorado Votes: The Voters"...
“I didn’t vote for him for his personality,” said Blecha. “I voted for him for his ability to do something different, to make some changes.”
Liz Torres, a Democrat and business owner who voted for Hillary Clinton, said she thinks some Las Animas County voters may now regret their choice.
“I think it’s divided,” she said. “There are those people that are very sternly strong supporters of Trump, but then I think that there’s also a lot that did vote for him, and now they’re saying, you know, I wish I would’ve thought differently about this.”
Olivya Shackelton, a student at Trinidad State Junior College, was too young to vote in the 2016 presidential election. But that year, Las Animas County voters collectively chose the Republican candidate for president, something they hadn’t done since 1972 when voters picked Richard Nixon over George McGovern.
“I would give Donald Trump a 'D' – an 'E' if it was possible,” Shackelton said during a discussion with other voters about the letter grade each would give the President. “I don’t feel like it’s a true 'F.'”
Republicans and Democrats often don’t agree on much when it comes to politics, but in Las Animas County, a group of eight men and women came together recently for a roundtable discussion hosted by Rocky Mountain PBS.
In this rural county, filled with many small businesses and a burgeoning marijuana industry, many voters said they chose Trump because he was advocating for change in 2016. They had hope then that the economy would turn around.
The 2016 unemployment rate in Las Animas County was 5 percent, according to state labor statistics. By comparison, the non-seasonally adjusted annual average unemployment rate for Las Animas County from August 2017 to August 2018 was 4.4 percent, according to state labor statistics. That average is still higher than the state average during that time - 3.0 percent.
For some voters, like Republican County Commissioner Mack Louden, choosing Trump at the polls feels like it is paying off.
“That tax cut, I think, really stimulated things,” said Louden, who also works as a cattle rancher in Branson.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 also helped create “opportunity zones” across the country. The program grants tax incentives to new investors who develop in economically-distressed areas. Las Animas County is a designated area, but the economic effects may still be years away.
While he’s skeptical that opportunity zones would keep investors in Las Animas County long-term, Louden said he would still give Trump a “B,” if he were grading the president. He admired some of the president’s interactions with foreign leaders.
“I like the fact that he’s talking to North Korea. I don’t like the fact that he sat down with Russia in a closed situation with nobody else there. I think that was a bad move,” he said.
Torres said she feels Trump hasn’t followed through with many of his campaign promises to his supporters, including building a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
“I mean he’s talked about that wall on and on and on. It’s not going to happen,” she said. “I understand why he wants to strengthen our borders, but…not everybody from Mexico is a bad person.
Wiening, the Democrat who voted for Trump, said he did so because he didn’t want to pick Hillary Clinton, and he would consider voting for Trump again for re-election.
A Trinidad State Junior College biology teacher, Wiening said it all depends on which candidate is running against Trump in the future. He said it is more important to research the candidates and the issues rather than casting a ballot solely according to one’s party.
“That’s kind of what democracy is based off of – being willing to make your own decisions. And if you’re just following what your leaders have told you, you haven’t done anything.”