THEY are often at odds in the Bathurst Regional Council chamber, and their opinions are polar opposites when it comes to politics in the United States of America, too.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillors Alex Christian and Jess Jennings are supporting different candidates in the U.S. presidential race, both believing their choice will win when the election is officially decided.
On Wednesday afternoon, the tight race was being led by Democratic Party candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.
ALSO MAKING NEWS: Pearson wants a 'more enlightened solution' to divisive go-kart saga
At the time, the race was expected to come down to the results in the states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Cr Christian, who would have voted for President Donald Trump if he was a U.S. citizen, expected a landslide win for the incumbent.
READ ALSO: Trump wins Florida, leads in key states
His calculation was that Mr Trump would end up with 288 Electoral College votes, which would be 18 less than when he won in 2016.
When asked if that could be considered a landslide, Cr Christian said yes, if you take into account the challenges in his presidency.
"I certainly think with the coronavirus, the Russian investigation, they impeached him, they threw absolutely everything at him; I think this is a better win than four years ago," he said.
He thinks the polls and media ahead of the election got it wrong again, and what people were seeing on election night was "the average American voicing their concern".
"I think it's a vote against abolishing police, socialism and outright communism," Cr Christian said.
The only surprise he saw on Wednesday was that Arizona, a traditionally Republican state, was on track to be called for the Democrats.
While Cr Christian is expecting Mr Trump to be declared the winner once more of the votes have been counted, Cr Jennings thought the election was too close to call on Wednesday afternoon.
He was hopeful Mr Biden would secure the presidency, as he felt another four years of the Trump administration would hurt the Australian agriculture industry.
READ ALSO: Joe Biden says: 'We're gonna win this'
If Mr Biden is successful, Cr Jennings doesn't think it will be the landslide win some had been predicting.
"I didn't expect it would be, I always thought it was going to be pretty tight," he said.
"Incumbency is a real asset these days, possibly more than it used to be, and that's definitely on Trump's side, but his handling of coronavirus has set him way back I think. If he loses, I'd say it's coronavirus that has lost him the election."
Cr Christian called the Democrats' choice of an old white male candidate "weird", but Cr Jennings thinks Mr Biden was the right choice, calling him "stable, reliable and recognised".