Light rail expansion offers Seattle progressives bright spot on dark election night

In Washington state, the presidential election didn’t go the way most voters wanted. But one thing drew faint, complicated cheers in the greater Seattle Area: Sound Transit 3 passed.

Drew Johnson was on fire for Sound Transit. He promoted the ballot measure as a volunteer by writing pro-transit slogans on the sidewalk with chalk. On election night, all that work paid off.

“This is the culmination of a lot of work that we’ve done, so that’s awesome," said Johnson. "It is a huge victory. On a micro-level, I think it’s going to do a lot of work for a lot of people."

Johnson wiped his eyes before continuing. "But tomorrow morning, I’m going to wake up, Donald Trump is going to be president elect. And that’s a big pill to swallow.”

People were swallowing more than that; take Lindsay Epstein.

“It’s like shot number five," she said, "and I don’t ever drink.”

She and her friends hopped from bar to bar Tuesday night. “I was trying to find somewhere happy," she said, "because it’s not a happy night.”

They finally ended up at the party for Sound Transit 3, where people had gathered to celebrate the measure that will build 62 new miles of light rail between Everett, Tacoma, Redmond and Issaquah.