As Donald Trump's victory drew closer on Wednesday night, Ashley Watkins had to leave her house.
"I went to the gym as a coping mechanism," said Ms Watkins, of Fern Bay in Port Stephens.
"The electoral votes were coming in. I was like, I can't stay home.
"I was very grumpy driving home. I used the word disgusting under my breath."
Her five-year-old son Jackson said, "What's disgusting, Mum?"
"I was like oh dang it," she quipped.
As a backer of the Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, she was concerned about what lay ahead.
"The Republicans have the House, Senate, Supreme Court and now the presidency," she said.
"At least in the previous [Trump] term, it wasn't a full sweep. When you talk about legislative impact, they can certainly have quite a profound impact."
She said it was disheartening that the country had "picked someone immoral, unethical and a convicted felon".
"I look at the Republican Party and think, is that the best you have to guide a nation? Shame on you."
Ms Watkins, who grew up in Oklahoma but had lived in Australia for a decade, was concerned about Trump's inhumane side.
"I feel he lacks decency for mankind," she said, while lamenting his embrace of fascism.
She said those who opposed Trump were "reeling in the grief".
Of those who backed Trump, she said "if you look at people who voted for him by race and gender, he's clearly speaking to something in those individuals".
"He's somehow connected to those people. Considering I'm not one of them, I can't say why that is."
Matt Thompson, a former Hunter resident now living in Oregon, believed Trump's comments about "borders and security" resonated with voters.
"The borders are wide open, with millions pouring in and untold tonnes of drugs killing upwards of 100,000 people a year," Mr Thompson said.
"When you have widespread extreme squalor, maybe extreme methods are called for.
"I carry mace and a gun because of the scum whose high is the only important thing in the universe."
Alex Morris, of Common Ground Newcastle, was sad Trump prevailed.
"I feel I've done remarkably well at keeping my composure, which I didn't do as well when he won in 2016," she said.
"I called my mum at midnight, as I knew she'd be upset with the outcome.
"I've been particularly concerned about her and my dad, as they live in the deep red state of Kentucky."
Her Democrat parents were "in the swing state of North Carolina for the last two weeks, knocking on doors, doing everything in their capacity to influence the election's outcome".
"I told my mum to try not to worry," she said.
"Think about everything he said he was going to do last time and didn't.
"He'll probably spend the next four years talking about how great he is and pissing people off on Twitter [X]. Let him tweet."
Ms Morris, who writes freelance features for the Herald's Weekender section, has lived in Newcastle for 12 years.
"Since I became a citizen and gained the right to vote in 2021, I've come to see the value of Australia's democratic system," she said.
"So long as the US keeps the electoral college, it will be hard to get Americans to feel as though they have the individual power to change much."
She felt annoyed "at the way the world works".
"Australians watch American politics like it's a spectator sport, while many Americans stick their head in the sand."
She wished the roles were reversed, with Americans learning about other democracies, and Australians "less entertained at the prospect of the fall of the American empire".
