Skip to ArticleSkip to Radioplayer

Steve Walls already was celebrating outside his polling place on Election Day. He got many car honks and felt "good vibes" from voters as he handed out Republican campaign literature and encouraged people to vote for Donald Trump.

Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

The man who saw Donald Trump’s victory coming

Topics: / /

By and /

Steve Walls is a 38-year-old electrician in Philadelphia. He never was really into politics – until 2016.

Walls has been excited about Donald Trump’s chances since he first talked about running for president years ago. But the wave of energy around Trump’s campaign this year swept him up. Walls works long hours, but he started door-knocking every chance he got.

Reporter Laura Starecheski and photographer Charles Mostoller joined Walls on the last leg of his journey. They followed him in the final weeks of Trump’s campaign and through Election Day in northeast Philadelphia.

All along, Walls saw what Democrats, journalists and pollsters had missed: Trump was bound for victory.

Steve went out door-knocking for Trump at least ten times in the run-up to the election. His Northeast Philly neighborhood, Mayfair, is mixed politically. In 2012 about 60% of people here voted for Obama, 40% for Mitt Romney.

Steve Walls went door-knocking for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at least 10 times in the runup to the election. His northeast Philadelphia neighborhood of Mayfair is mixed politically. In 2012, about 60 percent of people here voted for Democrat Barack Obama, 40 percent for Republican Mitt Romney.
Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

“We need to get over this political correctness. Everybody’s got to stop getting their feelings hurt. Time to put your big boy shoes on, go to work.”
– Steve Walls

Frank Giuffre, a disabled veteran, told Steve he was planning to vote for Trump. Walls said he saw support for Trump all across the city.

Frank Giuffre, a disabled veteran, told Walls that he was planning to vote for Trump. Walls said he saw support for Trump all across the city. Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

“When you ask them what they’re gonna vote for, 90 percent of these people are going, ‘I’m gonna vote for Trump.’ ”
– Steve Walls

Kay LeBlanc, another Mayfair Trump supporter, opposes Hillary Clinton because of her stance on abortion. LeBlanc couldn’t believe any Catholics would vote for her.

Kay LeBlanc, another Mayfair Trump supporter, opposed Democrat Hillary Clinton because of her stance on abortion. LeBlanc said she couldn’t believe any Catholics would vote for her.
Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

“Don’t you feel most of the people voting for Clinton are brain dead?”
– Kay LeBlanc

A collection of doctored playing cards shows local Philly Democrats who have been indicted or are under investigation. The display is titled "Philadelphia Democratic Cesspool of Corruption – So Sad – Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely in Philly."

A collection of doctored playing cards shows Obama and local Philadelphia Democrats who have been indicted or are under investigation. The display is titled, “Philadelphia Democratic Cesspool of Corruption – So Sad – Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely in Philly.” Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

“I want somebody that’s proud of my country. Not somebody who wants to rip it apart because the rest of the world doesn’t view us right. If they don’t view us right, it’s not my problem.”
– Steve Walls

Steve spent election night watching returns at the Tailhook Tavern, a military bar in Northeast Philly. He’d predicted Trump’s victory weeks before.

Walls spent election night watching returns at the Tailhook Tavern, a military bar in northeast Philadelphia. He’d predicted Trump’s victory weeks before.
Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

“You poked the bear. The silent majority’s gonna stand up.”
– Steve Walls

Steve celebrates as another state gets called for Trump.

Walls celebrates as another state gets called for Trump. Credit: Charles Mostoller for Reveal

“We made a stand. … It’s our time.”
– Steve Walls 

How did everyone miss the Trump supporters who were hiding in plain sight? On Reveal, we learn why they kept a low profile – until Election Day, that is – and hear what they have to say now that their candidate is headed to the White House. 

Republish Our Stories

×

The man who saw Donald Trump’s victory coming

By and

Thanks for your interest in republishing this story. As a nonprofit newsroom, we want to share our work freely with as many people as possible. We only ask that you follow a few guidelines.

You may embed our audio and video content and republish any written story for free under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 license and will indemnify our content as long as you strictly follow these guidelines:

TEXT

Credit and tag Reveal when sharing the story on social. We’re @reveal on Twitter and you can find us on at facebook/ThisIsReveal.

Include this language at the beginning of the story: “This story was produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting (link organization name to revealnews.org), a nonprofit news organization. Get their investigations emailed to you directly by signing up at revealnews.org/newsletter.

Our reporter(s) must be bylined. We prefer the following format: By Emmanuel Martinez, Reveal.

If you plan to republish our content, please notify us at republish@revealnews.org.

Do not change or edit our material, except only to reflect changes in time and location. (For example, “yesterday” can be changed to “last week,” and “Portland, Ore.” to “Portland” or “here.”)

Include all links from the story.

PHOTOS

You can republish Reveal photos only if you run them in or alongside the stories with which they originally appeared, include the original caption, and do not change them.

If you want to run a photo apart from that story, please request specific permission to license by contacting Senior Digital Producer Sam Ward, sward@revealnews.org. Reveal often uses photos we purchase from The Associated Press; those are not available for republication.

DATA

If you want to republish Reveal graphics or data, please contact Senior Data Editor Michael Corey, mcorey@revealnews.org.

IN GENERAL

We do not compensate anyone who republishes our work. You also cannot sell our material separately or syndicate it.

You can’t republish all of our material wholesale, or automatically; you need to select stories to be republished individually. To inquire about syndication or licensing opportunities, please contact Sam Ward, sward@revealnews.org

If you plan to republish our content, you must notify us at republish@revealnews.org.

If we send you a request to remove our content from your website, you must agree to do so immediately.

FYI, you can grab HTML code for our stories easily. Click on the “Republish this content” link at the bottom of every story. Please do not alter this code.

DO NOT APPLY IF

If you wish to only use portions of the work or create a derivative, you need separate permission and the license and indemnification do not apply. This license only applies to republication of full works.

Additionally, we will not provide indemnification if you are located or publishing outside the United States, but you may contact us to obtain a license and indemnification on a case-by-case basis.

CONTACT US

If you have any other questions, please contact us at republish@revealnews.org