Massachusetts politicians worked through their shock and disappointment in the days after the unexpected defeat of Hillary Clinton by Donald Trump, then switched gears as they began to identify local and party priorities in the deep blue state.

Initial statements signaled a willingness to work with the incoming president, regardless of contentions during the campaign, but some have since been frustrated by the announcements of people they see as troubling cabinet picks.

US Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke to the AFL-CIO executive council two days after the vote, and cited Trump’s words in his victory speech where he “pledged he’d be president for all Americans.” Said Warren: “I sincerely hope he will fulfill that pledge.”

But her tone turned after Trump selected a number of lobbyists to help run his transition team, which she said, runs counter to his promises to weed Wall Street influence in politics and also chose the former Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist.

At the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Meeting on Tuesday of this week, Warren said of Bannon: “This is a man who has white supremacist ties – that’s what he does. This is a man who told his ex-wife that he didn’t want his children going to school with Jews. This is a man who ran a news organization, ran headlines like, ‘Would you rather your children have feminism or cancer?’ This is a man who says, by his very presence, that this is a White House that will embrace bigotry.”

US Rep. Stephen Lynch, who backed Clinton, joined a flood of congressional Democrats who signed a letter demanding Trump rescind his appointment of Bannon. The letter, circulated on Twitter by Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, decried a spike in reports of harassment and violence against minorities since the election.

“Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your Administration,” the letter read. “Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.”

The president-elect has pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. In a public post on Monday, Mayor Martin Walsh reiterated his support for immigrants, LGBTQ people, Muslims, and others. “We will not compromise our values as a city,” he said. “That’s our sacred duty.”

As debate swirled on the national front, the Massachusetts Democratic Party on Monday elected Gus Bickford as its new chairman, according to the State House News Service. Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins, who was in the running with Bickford and Steve Kerrigan, threw his support behind Bickford after the first round of voting.

Some politicians homed in on the impact of the election on their districts.

“While I may be disappointed with the results, I have always believed that local politics are key to transforming the daily lives of our residents,” said City Councillor Andrea Campbell on Monday. Adding that a local councillor or representative is definitely easier to reach than the president, she said, “I will continue to fight for the values we hold near and dear, while listening and remaining open minded to those who have felt disenfranchised and left out of the system.”

Not a single precinct in Boston went for the Trump-Pence ticket and many local elected officials acted as Clinton surrogates in battleground states.

State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry and City Councillor Ayanna Pressley traveled widely on the Democrat’s behalf. In the days before the election, Forry was dispatched to Florida and Pressley to Georgia, both of which ultimately landed in Trump’s favor.

“For many of my constituents, this is a trying and troubling time, especially for our children and young people,” Forry said. “We need to pause and take a deep breath and reflect on the work that lies ahead. We have to turn our energy into action and be ready to do our best moving forward.”

Pressley suggested that after stages of disconnect, denial, disbelief, and grief hardened into resolve, the outcome could be a spark for activists who have until now not flung themselves into the political fray.

“I feel really empowered, in the sense that we’ll be more crystallized in our mission,” she said. “And by we I mean the party, because I think we’re taking the time to do the necessary internal audit and inventory and to learn from our mistakes and to be more intentional about actively listening and about being inclusive.”

The groundswell of working class frustration and feelings of disenfranchisement that contributed to a Trump victory could be a model for Democratic success, some said.

State Rep. Dan Cullinane said the ‘No on 2’ campaign’s activation of voters opposed to charter schools may be a prime example of such methods on a local level.  The question, which was backed by Gov. Charlie Baker and would have raised the cap on state charter schools, ultimately was defeated by 62-38.

“As a Democratic party, it’s a gut-check moment,” Cullinane said. “It is a call to action, a call to organize, a call to really do an inventory of messaging, and of how to get that message to the electorate in this new media age.”