{"id":129527,"date":"2025-09-03T11:02:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T11:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/129527\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T11:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T11:02:25","slug":"okanogan-county-protests-highlight-rural-impact-of-trump-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/129527\/","title":{"rendered":"Okanogan County protests highlight rural impact of Trump policies"},"content":{"rendered":"

One recent Saturday morning, Twisp was full of activity, typical for the region\u2019s peak tourist season.<\/p>\n

People in bathing suits ready to raft on the Methow River. Shoppers getting fresh produce at the Twisp Farmers Market. Others gathered in Twisp Works, a community hub that offers a mix of retail, eateries, art and public green space.<\/p>\n

At the corner of State Route 20 and South Glover Street, about 150 people gathered for what\u2019s become routine for the community: a protest over President Donald Trump\u2019s policies. Aug. 23 marked the 27th consecutive Saturday protest.<\/p>\n

Despite living in a Trump stronghold, Okanogan County residents have been able to sustain several months of regular demonstrations and other activities protesting the first half-year of the president\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n

These Okanogan County protesters hope to connect with others with similar concerns, and also to be heard by those with differing viewpoints.<\/p>\n

\"\"The August 23 protest in Twisp. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)<\/p>\n

Okanogan County, which borders Canada, is the state\u2019s largest county by area \u2014 at more than 5,300 square miles, nearly equal to the state of Connecticut. By population \u2014 the county had nearly 45,000 residents based on a 2024 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau \u2014 it\u2019s smaller than a few dozen Washington cities. \u00a0<\/p>\n

It heavily favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, giving him 55.7% of the county\u2019s votes to Democrat Kamala Harris\u2019 40.8%. However, several precincts within the county went for Harris, including those in the Methow Valley where Twisp is located.<\/p>\n

Those protesting in Okanogan County want to call attention to how Trump\u2019s policies from the other Washington will affect one of the state\u2019s poorest counties: As of 2023, Okanogan County\u2019s personal income per capita was $52,446, putting it in the bottom 28% of all counties statewide, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. \u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result, many residents here are dependent on programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), both of which will receive massive cuts under the budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress<\/a> and signed into law by Trump in early July.<\/p>\n

Additionally, increased immigration enforcement actions may impact the immigrant and migrant workers who work in the county\u2019s agriculture sector. The county is also home to public lands and other entities that employ federal workers.<\/p>\n

For the Twisp protesters, highlighting these local impacts is important. Many hope that their efforts could reach their neighbors, including those who voted for Trump in the 2024 election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say democracy only works if we work it,\u201d said Lauralee Northcott, who has lived in Twisp for 50 years and worked as a teacher for 34 years before retiring. \u201cIt slipped away by not working it enough. Every side matters. We need balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Protesters gather for their 27th Saturday protest in Twisp. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)Widespread civic action<\/p>\n

The region is no stranger to local activism. Isabelle Spohn, who coordinates the weekly protest in Twisp, has long been active in environmental activism. In the 1970s and 1980s, Spohn and others tried to stop the construction of a large ski resort in Mazama that would have brought 10,000 skiers a day to a region with a fraction of year-round residents. The effort was successful, and the group involved in protesting that development \u2014 the Methow Valley Citizens Council \u2014\u00a0remains active, addressing land-use issues that could potentially affect the environment\u2019s and region\u2019s character. \u00a0<\/p>\n

For Spohn, this current protest effort has provided a space for people to voice concerns over several different issues, including the war in Gaza; the outsized influence of billionaires on public policy; \u00a0the attack on public institutions, including some addressing public health and science issues; and dramatic cuts to government health care and nutrition programs.<\/p>\n

\"\"Protest organizer Isabelle Spohn uses a megaphone during the Saturday protest in Twisp. Spohn has been an environmental activist since the 1970s. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)<\/p>\n

The protests have attracted as many as 700 people \u2014 for example, when the protest coincided with the national \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest this summer. Most weeks they get around 100 participants. The Methow Valley has 6,500 residents.<\/p>\n

Participants include longtime residents who have been at all or nearly all the protests, and other residents who have relocated to the region in the past several years from other parts of the state, including the Puget Sound region. Others are visitors who join out of solidarity.<\/p>\n

Patty Yates, a Twisp resident of Twisp for 45 years, has been at all but one protest this year. During the Aug. 23 protest, Yates was joined by her visiting children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Yates said she wants Okanogan County residents to know what they\u2019re losing through the cuts in legislation proposed by Trump and ultimately passed by the Republican-majority Congress. She also is concerned about the decreased access to abortion and depriving women of a choice for their bodies. \u201cThat whole thing gets me foaming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Yates\u2019 stepdaughter, Carly Lewis, was there with her two children, ages 9 and 7.<\/p>\n

Lewis, who lives in Bothell, said she has brought her family to the protest during every visit this year. \u201cI think it\u2019s important for the younger generation to see they can have a voice and that local activism is just as important as national activism,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

iFrames are not supported on this page.<\/p>\n

Multiple movements for a big county<\/p>\n

Later that Saturday, another group of protesters gathered at a park in Tonasket, a city of 1,100 people about an hour from Twisp.<\/p>\n

These protesters are affiliated with the Okanogan County chapter of Indivisible, a national effort to provide resources and guidance to help residents build grassroots civic movements. The group has been gathering weekly, both on Zoom and through protests.<\/p>\n

Some participants have driven upward of an hour or more to get to the protest in Tonasket. The group has also staged protests in Brewster and Omak to cater to those living in other parts of the county.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

(David Ryder for Cascade PBS)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to speak up,\u201d said Sandy Vaughn, co-organizer with Okanogan County Indivisible. \u201cIf we don\u2019t speak up in this time, we are failing this nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

For co-organizer Shirl Kuchta, the protests are not about partisan politics \u2014Trump\u2019s policies are impacting residents of both parties, not just Democrats, she said. They are also impacting people in other parts of the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuchta said the protests provide a space for participants to be around others who share their concerns, and to gain more courage to stand up and speak out. \u201cIt gives people a place to focus their unease, their upset, their anger and their fear about what\u2019s happening in this country,\u201d she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Other civic efforts<\/p>\n

While protests provide visibility, organizers encourage participants to engage in other types of civic action.<\/p>\n

In Twisp, for example, attendees promoted other causes, such as a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen, which provides meals for Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Spohn said the Twisp group has worked with other civic groups in the Methow Valley that focus on other actions, such as writing letters. She\u2019s also tried to keep in touch with other groups, including the Okanogan County Indivisible group in the Omak\/Tonasket area.<\/p>\n

For Rural People\u2019s Voice, a civic advocacy organization working in Okanogan, Chelan and Douglas counties that formed in 2021, the work centers on getting the stories of the community in front of key policy- and decision-makers.<\/p>\n

In early July, Rural People\u2019s Voice staff and volunteers gathered at Three Rivers Hospital to voice concerns over the recently passed House Resolution 1<\/a>, which included $990 billion in cuts over the next decade to Medicaid, the government-funded health care program, and to numerous other government services, such as nutrition and food programs for low-income residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"An aerial view of the monthly protest in Twisp. Demonstrators come from the around the Methow Valley, with a population of about 6,500. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)<\/p>\n

For executive director Elana Mainer, it\u2019s about expressing the urgency of taking programs from rural residents who have dealt with poverty for decades.<\/p>\n

Mainer says that the rural communities her organization serves cannot afford further government funding cuts, and she believes it\u2019s unfair that health care and nutrition programs are further cut while wealthy people receive more tax cuts. \u201cIt\u2019s time for rural folks like us to have our fair share,\u201d she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Mainer said the focus for her and her group has been on one-on-one engagement through door-knocking \u2014 the group knocked on thousands of doors last year. She believes there are opportunities to not only inform residents but get them involved in civic efforts, including running for office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many natural leaders in mobile home parks, in apartment complexes, some of the things they do best is talk to their neighbors, talk to them about voting, what\u2019s up with Medicaid [cuts], what\u2019s up with health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Engaging with differing views<\/p>\n

But while community organizers and protesters throughout Okanogan County believe in showing resistance to Trump and policies being passed in Washington, D.C., they emphasize the importance of remaining in community with their neighbors, even those who support Trump.<\/p>\n

\"\"A passing driver signals support for the monthly protest. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)<\/p>\n

In recent years, it has not been unusual for political viewpoints to drive people apart, but in a smaller community, that\u2019s not an option, given frequent interactions with those with differing views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mainer said that in her work she finds that most rural residents, regardless of their political affiliation, want a lot of the same things, such as economic prosperity and health care. She said it\u2019s most important to maintain relationships and encourage dialogue to find solutions. \u201cIt takes a constant work to stay connected and [show] we do care about each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The protest in Twisp underscored that struggle. While many drivers honked in support, at least two vehicles stopped and blew dirty exhaust into the protesters\u2019 faces. Two high school boys circled the group in their scooters waiving a large Donald Trump flag. At times they would get aggressive, waving their middle fingers at the group.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Trump supporter passes the monthly protest. In Okanogan County, where Twisp is located, 55.7% of the vote went to Trump in the 2024 election. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t faze the protesters, who were acquainted with the boys and their families.<\/p>\n

A few of the protesters asked the boys to walk with their flag rather than create a safety issue by taking up the bike lane. The conversation occurred without escalation, and the two boys eventually parked their scooters and carried their Trump flag on foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with counter-protesters, there [was] no aggression, no anger,\u201d said Lewis, the visiting Bothell resident. \u201cWe\u2019re protecting free speech, and everyone has a right to free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One recent Saturday morning, Twisp was full of activity, typical for the region\u2019s peak tourist season. People in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-129527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}