Rutgers experts discuss Trump’s election victory with President Jonathan Holloway

The program “The Morning After” was produced as part of a class taught by the president of Rutgers

After a controversial election that divided the country, the institutions that uphold democracy ultimately prevailed, a panel of political and legal experts said Wednesday during a call with Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway.

“We have to recognize that the American people have spoken quite loudly, and we have to respect that decision,” said Ronald Chen, a distinguished law professor at Rutgers and general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union. “To that extent our democratic institutions work and flourish.”

“The morning after” analysis is a tradition the Eagleton Institute of Politics to bring together campaign experts and scholars after Election Day. Holloway moderated the panel discussion Wednesday morning as part of his weekly Byrne seminar for freshmen, “Citizenship, Institutions and the Public.”

“As much as we have to point fingers, this was a peaceful election,” Holloway said during the hours-long discussion. “There is something very remarkable, speaking as a historian, that we still have peaceful elections in this country.”

Chen joined Holloway; Mike Duhaime, former political director of the Republican National Committee and CEO of MAD Global Strategy Group; Kimberly Peeler-Allen, co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building Black women’s political power and leadership from the voting booth to elected office, and Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for Women and Politics at Rutgers.

“The institution endured,” said Duhaime, who has worked at the highest levels of American politics in senior positions for President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and Governor Chris Christie. “As messy as 2020 was, it held up in the end. We must respect and honor the process. This is what makes Americans unique: we settle our differences at the ballot box.”

Peeler-Allen said election workers, who showed up despite unprecedented threats in recent years, were a big part of that equation.

“We saw in Georgia that there were two bomb threats from Russia that were thwarted,” she said. “They paused voting for a moment, but it continued and that is because of the resilience of the system and the people who are committed to maintaining the infrastructure of our democracy.”

Walsh pointed to the progress women made in Tuesday’s election. New Jersey has doubled the number of women in its congressional delegation to four, she said. In addition, Nellie Pou, who will fill the late Bill Pascrell’s vacant seat in the Ninth Congressional District, will become the first Latina to serve in the delegation. Walsh also noted the election of Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, and a record number of women serving as governor with the election of Republican Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire.

Other panelists noted that Andy Kim will become the first U.S. senator of Korean descent. In addition, for the first time, two Black women will serve simultaneously in the U.S. Senate: Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.

Peeler-Allen went on to say that while the election was transparent and secure, more needs to be done to increase the number of voters and the number of people running for office – noting that there were thousands of uncontested seats across the country.

Adding more diverse voices is a challenge because of the specific obstacles women, especially women of color, face on the campaign trail and in office, she said.

“This election highlights that racism, sexism and misogyny are very much alive and not just coming from white men; it comes from every demographic and whether or not we want to have those difficult conversations, it is something that needs to be addressed,” Peeler-Allen said.

Both Walsh and Peeler-Allen said getting a woman of color to the top of the ticket is a huge milestone, and they took turns discussing how gender and race continue to be weaponized against female candidates, especially female candidates of color.

“Trump clearly used toxic masculinity to appeal to male voters,” Walsh said. “The threat of violence they face if they run for office and remain in office has a chilling effect. That’s why I’m going back to Trump’s rhetoric and that wing of the party that threatens to exclude people.”

They also spoke to the activism that developed in response to Trump’s first term and said the work must continue.

“Democracy is a verb and not a noun. It needs constant work,” Peeler-Allen said. “Roll up your sleeves. Find out how to recognize good work. Raise your voice if you disagree. And continue to be part of the process.”