KAILUA-KONA — While most visitors to Hawaii come to the islands for a chance to escape, however briefly, from their everyday lives, there seemed to be no escaping the dramatic unfolding of Tuesday’s presidential election.
“I knew coming here we would escape some of it, but it seems to keep finding us,” said Crystal Murphy, who was honeymooning in Hawaii from Oklahoma City.
She and Aubry Murphy were visiting Kona for the day Wednesday as part of a week-long cruise of the state. The cruise had the election returns on television and the couple watched as Republican nominee Donald Trump declared victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Crystal Murphy said she cast her ballot absentee, “reluctantly for Clinton,” but only because she’s a supporter of the “Never Trump” movement, which fiercely opposed the businessman’s candidacy.
Aubry Murphy didn’t vote.
“I’m embarrassed by both candidates,” he said.
Coming into Tuesday’s election, Crystal Murphy said she wasn’t expecting a Trump victory, so the outcome was jarring, even on vacation.
“I had some built up belief that it just couldn’t happen,” she said.
Other visitors were also surprised by the result.
Tim and Glenda Hale, visiting from New Mexico, were also watching the results as they came in.
“We thought it was gonna be pretty one-sided,” said Tim Hale. “By the time we turned it on …”
“A little surprising,” said Glenda Hale.
“Very surprising,” added Tim.
Although both are registered Republicans, neither voted for the nominee, instead voting for Clinton and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, also a former governor of New Mexico.
Glenda Hale said she was disappointed by what she saw as the role sexism played in the race.
“It was a little disappointing to see just how sexist America still is,” she said. “As a woman, it was absolutely disappointing.”
And while Glenda Hale said she considers Trump a “slimeball as a human being” and that she “couldn’t identify with what he’s saying,” she said she can still back him as a Republican, citing his ability to put a Republican on the Supreme Court bench.
Visitors to Kona from outside the U.S. also had their concerns about the election.
Chelsea Sicinski, a 24-year-old from Toronto, Canada, said that while she didn’t follow the election super closely, her impression of the debates left her “horrified.”
As election results came in, Sicinski said she was checking online periodically for updates.
“Honestly, I was definitely leaning towards Hillary, so I was very disappointed,” she said.
Her Facebook feed, she said, showed similar reactions from her friends back home.
“All of the other Canadians were disappointed in the decision America has made,” she said.
She said she believes Clinton is “just nice to people,” while Trump “hates everyone that’s not exactly like him.”
“He showed Hillary no respect in any of the debates,” she said.
Regardless, she said, she’s hoping for the best when it comes to the future.
“Hopefully everyone is OK,” she said. “I don’t know that it will be but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
While cruise ship Wednesday packs Alii Drive with tourists, a couple Kona residents also voiced their opinions about Tuesday’s election.
Isaac Wongyuen, a 29-year-old Kailua-Kona resident, said that while he’s glad Trump won, neither candidate was his first pick.
“I kinda feel like it’s a shame we only had to choose between these two,” he said.
Wongyuen said he believes there are candidates out there he could get behind, but said they don’t have the clout to put up a good campaign.
“I think it’s financial backing honestly,” he said.
Wongyuen said he’s disillusioned with many politicians. He said he was a fan of President Barack Obama at the start of his first term, but felt like he wasn’t getting any work done.
“After I saw he did not really do much for our country, I didn’t really care for him,” he said. “Especially being from Hawaii, I expected more out of him.”
Kanji Ueda, 51 of Kailua-Kona, said he’s concerned about the results.
“I’m pretty sad,” he said. “I’m worried about the future.”
An immigrant from Japan, Ueda said Trump’s rhetoric about immigration makes him “nervous and worried.”
He’s opposed to what he sees as Trump’s dismissal of globalism and focus on closing the United States off from the world.
He also questioned Trump’s abilities with international relations. A lot of his friends still in Japan, he added, are also worried about what a Trump administration will mean for relations with that country.
“I don’t know how he can handle Asian countries,” he said, specifically referencing China, Japan and North Korea.
But despite the disappointment felt by some, vacationers said they were still going to enjoy their Hawaii trip while they could.
“I don’t want to go back,” said Crystal Murphy. “That’s when the reality hits.”