Gavin Nguyen
Local political groups in the Coachella Valley remain divided as President Donald Trump officially returns to the White House as the 47th President of the United States.
The East Valley Republican Women Patriots hosted a watch party for President Trump’s inauguration Monday morning at Kitchen 86 in Palm Desert.
Organizers say over 150 people attended the watch party, and they had to start turning some away.
“We felt that everybody was in unity. Everybody was on the same page. It was a friendly crowd, a great crowd. Just fantastic overall, just fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Jim Dell, a Los Angeles native who drove to Palm Desert for the watch party.
Joy Miedecke, the President of the East Valley Republican Women Patriots, the group that organized the watch party, is hopeful for what President Trump’s second term will bring.
“We were very proud, very proud of our new president and what we have to look forward to, what he’s going to do for us like no other has done before,” she beams.
Meanwhile, volunteers at the Democratic Headquarters of the Desert continued to clean up after Saturday’s ‘People’s March’ in Palm Springs.
Elle Kurpiewski, the Political Director at the Democratic group, sums up her feelings of President Trump’s return bluntly: “I’m not very optimistic.”
However, she continues, “Having said that, however, I know the people that, for example, were at the rally on Saturday in Palm Springs. We are strong. We are together. We are going to act as one as we push back on some of the things that this man is saying.”
Even though both political groups are on opposite ends of the spectrum, they share a common goal: support and elect politicians that match their agenda. And they’re already gearing up for the next election cycle in 2026.
“We’ve got a governor’s race that we’re already starting to work on. And, you know, [we’re] also recruiting candidates to run for city councils, all those things. Riverside County has turned red and we’re ready for it,” Miedecke says of Republican efforts in the future.
Meanwhile, Kurpiewski says she and her Democratic group are staying committed to their cause.
“What’s next is, again, we’re going to be watching very closely what [the President] does, what he says and what he actually does. But more importantly, we will be taking a step back, which we have been doing since Election Day. And we are in the process of reorganizing what our efforts will be. We are going to have some great candidates as we move forward,” she says.
Despite being on opposite sides of the political spectrum, it’s clear that both have similar goals – so I asked each local leader the same question.
“Does the work ever stop for you guys?”
Without hesitation, their reply: “Never.”
