San Francisco workers reflect on Trump’s re-election: ‘The rich sit and forget, the poor stay the same’

Sofia sells cups of freshly cut fruit for $8 each in San Francisco’s Mission District. In a day, she can bring home about $75 in sales. A mother of one daughter, Sofia lost her job at a clothing store during the pandemic and has since turned to selling whatever she can while taking temporary gigs to make a living.

“The rich sit and forget, and the poor stay the same,” Sofia said, more than a week after American voters decidedly re-elected Donald Trump. “If Trump says that he is going to deport us, let’s see what this country will do without immigrants, who work jobs that no one wants to work.”

In a historic election, where there was much at stake, 46% of self-identified Hispanic voters said they voted for Trump — a 32% increase from the 2020 election, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research. Many cited economic concerns as their primary motivator, associating Trump’s presidency with financial relief, even as his policies targeted immigrant communities.This shift has reshaped perceptions of Latinx voters, particularly Latino men, who make up a small but impactful portion of the electorate.

While this year’s election was framed as a battle over the nation’s moral identity, interviews with more than a dozen of San Francisco’s low-wage, informal, and essential workers reveal a more complicated reality. Despite varied perspectives on Trump’s re-election, one urgent concern unites them: the struggle to keep up with the city’s soaring cost of living, despite working incredibly hard.

Lubia Carranza, 37, rents a spot to sell clothes and toys outside a local business. Like some workers, she hopes the economy will improve. “We have to try everything [politically] and give this man [Trump] a chance,” Carranza said. “I couldn’t complain about the economy when he was president.”

Elliot Sum, a 20-year-old student organizer at San Francisco State, wasn’t surprised by the outcome. “Unlike the Democrats, Trump actually presented some form of economic relief,” Sum said. “It comes down to: are you going to choose your livelihood, or your pride?”

This was the first time Sum was eligible to vote in a presidential election, but like many young people, they chose not to vote for either candidate. Instead, Sum focused on organizing campus protests for Gaza, denouncing both political parties’ support for Israel and artillery responsible for the deaths of more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

Ramsey, a Palestinian born in the occupied West Bank who now runs a local grocery store, says he has never seen an election cycle like this one. The 56-year-old fears the new administration will continue to spread xenophobia and racist rhetoric. “There were Trump supporters in the city last week and they were yelling: ‘This is our city now,’ and that’s kind of scary.”

Despite mixed and anxious reactions, the election results have also sparked renewed determination among some workers.

Evelyn Luarca, 50, stood outside the Hilton Hotel, joining thousands of hotel workers who have been on strike for weeks. As one of the leaders organizing the strike, Luarca thought carefully about her response to El Tecolote’s question: Where do we go from here?

“Despite the majority of us not liking Donald Trump, we need to work collectively to help this country continue to move forward,” Luarca said. “We need to keep fighting.”

This portrait series, documented days after Election Day, highlights interviews with small business owners, street vendors, city employees, and food and hospitality workers. Some last names have been omitted at the request of our sources, and some quotes were lightly edited for readability.