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KNKX, along with NPR, will bring you all the information you will need as we close in on Election Day 2016. Stay up to date with local and national issues along with stories about how this election cycle will affect you and your family here in Washington and around the world.Also be sure to check out our series on Sound Transit's Proposition 1, also known as Sound Transit 3. You can read more about ST3 and this series here. Be sure to stay up-to-date with our national coverage too by clicking here.

Debate Watch Party In Spokane Draws Voters - Undecided And Otherwise

Voters packed nYne Bar and Bistro in Spokane to watch the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Emily Schwing
/
Northwest News Network
Voters packed nYne Bar and Bistro in Spokane to watch the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Debate watching parties took place across the country Monday night, including one in Spokane, Washington, where the politics are decidedly purple. Spokane’s weekly newspaper, The Inlander, hosted the event.

“The city here is pretty Democratic, it’s pretty blue,” Inlander Editor Jacob Fries said. “As a county, generally with more rural areas, we tend to see more Republican strong holds.”

The reasons people turned out to the watch party were mixed. Some saw it as a civic duty while others were just celebrating the fact that there was a political even.

“I don’t know. I’m curious,” Spokane resident Shane Collins said. “I’m curious to see how people react and it seems like we have a lot from both parties here.”

About halfway through this debate, some attendees said they already felt more informed.

“Definitely more informed. Definitely more sure of Trump,” said Sydney Connor from Spokane. “I think that Hillary is going to ruin small businesses and I love small businesses. That’s what small communities thrive on.”

Plenty of voters still have yet to make up their minds, but will take their time to do so.

“I still haven’t processed a lot of what just happened,” Collins said. “I am not necessarily disappointed. I wanted a lot more information and I hope to get that and I hope to get that in the next couple debates for sure.”

Copyright 2016 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.