As the Democratic National Convention came to a close on Thursday night, Brunswick Democrats gathered at The Daniel and Coast Bar-Bistro to watch the final speeches and celebrate the nomination of Hillary Clinton.

While the convention in Philadelphia has been plagued by protests from frustrated supporters of Bernie Sanders, a recurring theme of the evening in Brunswick was unity, with former Sanders supporters prepared to move and present a united Democratic front in November.

Former Rep. Charles Priest, who was termed out of the Maine House in 2014, said Clinton would do a terrific job.

“I was originally a Bernie supporter,” he said. “I think he fought hard, think he got a lot of things changed in the platform, and I think he brought her a little more to the progressive side.”

With the primaries over, however, Priest is ready for the general election and is hopeful that Clinton will take more progressive positions if elected.

Loren Arford, who had voted for Sanders in the primaries and has been an independent for years, finally registered as a Democrat this year after seeing Donald Trump gain support in the Republican Party.

“I was raised Republican, actually worked to get Nixon elected,” said Arford. “I’ve been independent since forever and this is the first year I am registered as a Democrat because I really didn’t like what I was seeing happen.

“I really don’t like the way I saw the other party going,” he added.

Brownie Carson, former head of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and candidate in state Senate District 24, was fired up by the various speakers at the DNC.

“I’m excited going into November,” said Carson, noting that the country was on the verge of electing its first female president.

“I’m really excited as someone who has a daughter, who someday hopes for granddaughters and grandsons, that we are finally at the point where we are ready to elect a leader who is of Hillary’s calibur who is also a woman,” said former town councilor Jackie Sartoris.

Jane Millet, who sits on the Brunswick Town Council and was one of the event’s organizers, said, “I think younger people, maybe millennials, don’t quite understand it’s been over 100 years since women have had the vote, and women have very little representation in government,” she said. “I think it’s really historic.”

In the only prepared remarks of the night, Rep. Mattie Daughtry called on local Democrats to get involved in the general election and to help the Brunswick Democratic Town Committee pay for their campaign headquarters.

“If we are to stop Donald Trump and stop his agenda of hate, we’re gonna need to knock on every door,” she said. “We have to knock not just on every door in Brunswick, but every single door in Maine to make sure not only that Hillary Clinton wins in Maine, but that we have a strong congressional delegation, and that we have everyone down in D.C. making sure that our next president, Hillary Clinton, has all the help she can get.”

nstrout@timesrecord.com