STUNNER

STORYBYMATTHEWARTZ ILLUSTRATIONBY SERGESEIDLITZ

Having staked his candidacyonapledge to make Mexico pay foragiant borderwall, DonaldTrump musthavehad some inkling that hewas traveling deep intoenemyterritorywhen he scheduled arallyin the BayArea.

Acrowd of predominantlyLatino protestersscuffledwith Trump’smostly white supportersin June as theyleftthe San Jose ConventionCenter’sSouth Hall, highlighting the nation’sracial divide and its apparent retreat from civility andrespect for differing opinions.

Thereal estate baron emergedvictorious from an original fieldof23 people running for theDemocratic and Republican nominations, breakingnearly every unwritten rule of campaign etiquette along the way. Along with in-personturmoil atcampaign events across thecountry,trollsswarmedTwitter to accost their politicalopponents.

InCalifornia, the presidentialcontest essentially ended with the Juneprimarybattle betweenDemocrats HillaryClinton andBernie Sanders. Eagerto deliverClinton an embarrassing defeat thatwould have given himabiggersay in theDemocraticParty’s campaignplatform, Sanders, aU.S. senatorfrom Vermont, barnstormedthe state for two weeks. Clinton, who was alreadylooking aheadtothe national generalelection, turned her attention backto California, nearlymatching him event for event.

Above,Trump supporter Juan Hernandez’snose was broken when violence erupted at a San Jose rally (pictured at right). Itwas just one of many election-related scuffles in 2016.

Sanders drew hugecrowdsfullofyoungvoters inspired by hiscalls to make state collegesfree,create asingle-payerhealthcare system and hitWall Street banks with more taxes. But Clinton easilywon the primaryand garnered8.75 millionvotesinNovember, nearlydoubling Trump’s4.48 million.

Inan election year unlikeany other,California showed it wasn’timmune tothegrowingbelligerence in ourpolitics.Andthistime, it wasthe Rust Belt that pointed America towarditsfuture—one thatmany Californians didn’tseecoming.

Keymoments

May 6: Hillary Clintonstagesher first BayArearally at an Oakland elementary school.In a signof troublesthatwouldplague her campaign,several Bernie Sanders supporters interrupted her andwere orderedby security toleave.

May 10: Aftercampaigning across the nation for months,Sandersarrives toahero’s welcomeathisnewly christenedheadquarters inOakland. Supporters filled CollegeAvenue, chanting “Bernie,Bernie” as the senator from Vermontbegan hiseffort towin the California primary.

May 13: Assemblywoman Catharine Baker,theBayArea’slone Republican statelawmaker,saysshewon’t back Trump in November.“I disagreewith him on so manythings,”shesaid. Ultimately,Trump wasn’t a big dragon California Republicans.Bakerwon reelection,asdid four GOPcongressmen in competitivedistricts.

May 18: Sandersdrawsthousandsof supporters tothe SantaClara County Fairgrounds in SanJose.

Clockwise from top left: Donald Trump declares victory; Bay AreaTrump fans celebrate; HillaryClinton concedes; Clinton supportersreact on election night.

May 30: An estimated 20,000 people attendaSandersrally indowntown Oakland.Afterthe rally,Sandersis shuttled with actorDannyGloverto OracleArenato watchGame 7of the NBA’sWesternConferencefinals.The night provedto be thehigh-water markboth for SandersandtheGolden StateWarriors.

May 31: Gov.JerryBrownputs aside his bad bloodwith the Clintons and issues a letter endorsing Hillary Clintonover Sanders.

June 2: Donald Trumpholdsan eveningrally at theSanJose ConventionCenter’s South Hall. AfterTrump’s speech,agroupof protestersattacked andharassed Trump supporters as they wereleaving the convention hall.More than40 people were assaulted during what wasone of themost violentpolitical episodes ofthe year.

June 7: Hillary Clinton defeats Bernie SandersinCalifornia’sDemocratic primary.Trump facednocompetition in theRepublicanrace.

July 12: Fourteen Trump supporters filealawsuit against the cityof San Jose for failingtoprotectthem from protestersfollowing a June Trump rally.The lawsuitwas later amended toinclude20 people whosaidthey wereinjured after the rally.

July 15: Aftercombing through hundredsof cellphonevideos,news videos andsocialmedia profiles,San Jose police announce that theyhave identified 22peoplesuspectedof committingcrimes duringthemelee that took place followingTrump’s downtownrally in June.

Clockwise fromtop left: Protestorsmarch throughBerkeley; AlbanyHigh School students react; a flag is burnedduring an Oakland demonstration.

Sept.12: Afterthe primary, Clintonswingsthrough the Bay Area to collect campaign cash.But hermost talked-about fundraiser was theoneshe had tocanceldueto pneumonia.

Nov.8: Trump wins the presidency in a stunning upset.Twodayslater, Gov.JerryBrownsaidin referenceto the president-elect:“We will protect the precious rights of our peopleand continuetoconfront the existential threat of ourtime —devastating climatechange.”