Six teal and canary yellow beehives, along with a local resident sporting a navy blue shirt with rainbow “Vote” lettering, mark the site of “Honey for Harris” — a local effort infusing island energy into the 2024 presidential election.

Following President Joe Biden’s departure from the race, Democrats have seen a surge in excitement and campaign donations for Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, with many dedicated islanders actively joining the movement.

“It’s just a fun way to get people excited about the election and give them honey, because that’s what we like to do,” islander Jenna Riggs said.

Riggs, a graphic designer, political activist, and Indivisible Vashon leadership team member, describes herself as just “one bee” in a hive working to make a difference on Vashon. She’s also the beekeeper behind Honey for Harris.

Riggs drives around the island, hand-delivering jars of her harvested honey and encouraging people to make a $47 donation directly to the Harris campaign, symbolizing support for Harris becoming the 47th president.

With more honey than she can consume herself, Riggs uses the sticky, dark orange treat as a tasty incentive to encourage election involvement. She has around 30 orders to fill currently.

“My upbringing was always … you get what you give,” she said. “My political involvement is really along those lines … that everyone should have a say and have the freedom to live the life they want.”

Riggs designed the jar graphics herself — applying artistic skills that she’s also used with Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, where she handled tasks from creating pronoun stickers to designing their quarterly donor magazine.

Islander Jenna Riggs delivers these jars of her harvested honey to encourage others to donate directly to the Kamala Harris campaign. (Aspen Anderson photo.)

“Beehives are almost all females, and the females are in charge — it takes the whole hive to live,” Riggs said. “The ladies work so hard for Kamala and me, and now we are going to share that with you.”

She’s not the only islander putting creative skills to use for the election.

Known for his lovingly crafted troll costume, fellow islander for Harris, Matt Beursken, stands daily from noon to 2 p.m. in Vashon’s town center, regardless of the weather, displaying a sign he designed to encourage voter participation in the upcoming election.

Islander Matt Beursken waves to drivers in Vashon town, sporting a colorful jacket and an American flag. (Aspen Anderson photo.)

A Vashon resident since 2017 and originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Beursken admits he hasn’t always been politically active, but he’s always been “politically upset.”

Waving at every passing car, Beursken typically receives friendly thumbs-ups and honks, though he also encounters the occasional middle finger and angry drivers. It’s an opportunity to step outside his comfort zone, he said.

“If they flip me off, I laugh at them,” Beursken said with a smile.

Clad in a striking suit jacket, Beursken wears a framed circular photo of Harris, an American flag and colorful painted words including “Tim Walz,” “Kamala Harris,” and “Vote.”

“I had to do something,” Beursken said. “It impacts me (and) so many people I know. I have the time, the creativity to make things, and I am not just sitting at home. I am happy to be out here.”

After more than two weeks standing at the intersection, Beursken plans to continue his efforts until the election. He said he especially enjoys his interactions with weekend tourists to spread the word beyond Vashon.

Beursken highlights Project 2025, a conservative policy initiative, as a key political agenda that concerns him.

Project 2025, published by the Heritage Foundation and supported by contributions from more than 100 conservative organizations, aims to reshape the federal government to support conservative political goals if Donald Trump wins the White House again.

Some of the proposals in Project 2025 align with Trump’s policies, but the former president denies any affiliation with the project. However, news outlets including CNN have reported that 140 people who worked in his administration were involved in some way with the 900-page document.

Beursken says his sister has threatened to cut off contact with him over his activism, and he sometimes feels uneasy about his safety. He’s asked friends to join him but none so far have taken him up on the offer.

“I would have been here for Joe,” Beursken said. “No matter what I would have been here. But I think this campaign has more energy.”

Once a Republican stronghold, the island’s political landscape has shifted dramatically over the years. 87.5% of islanders voted for the Biden/Harris campaign in 2020. What drove this Puget Sound island to become such a liberal bastion?

The island, originally rooted in farming and timber harvesting, began attracting more liberal communities in the 1980s and 90s, including the LGBTQIA+ community, which played a key role in shaping its current character.

“It’s sort of like an island of very active introverts,” Riggs said with a laugh. “There’s this sense of ‘I can be myself, and I can have neighbors, and I can get along with everybody.’ It’s maybe a more open idea of what it means to be a community.”

Kevin Jones, a leadership team member of Indivisible Vashon, attributes this to Vashon’s remote location, which requires a deliberate effort to reach. He believes this isolation has fostered a culture of intentional, engaged residents.

The organization describes itself as being dedicated to defending democracy by advocating for progressive candidates and legislation, working for social and environmental justice and supporting immigrants and refugees, and opposing authoritarianism and misinformation.

“Trump’s presidency activated … people to become a lot more engaged,” Jones said. “The value system that we have on the island [is] acceptance, community, sustainability … (and) tolerance, but Trump’s message was intolerance and division. I think a large portion of islanders don’t accept that today and do not see that as a future we would choose for ourselves.”

The group has launched a postcard program, meeting every Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Swiftwater Gallery. They have already produced 12,000 postcards for this election cycle.

The goal of the program is to boost voter turnout by providing participants with scripts and addresses to send handwritten postcards and partnering with organizations such as Activate America to support candidates and democracy.

Jones, Riggs, and Beursken all agree that Trump’s presidency poses a threat to the values held by islanders.

“We live in this beautiful place and there is room for lots of views, as long as we are not harmful to each other,“ Riggs said. “How lucky we are to live in a community that embraces whimsy.”