Barack Obama looked a little tired in his first press conference since Election Day. The president-elect is not the only one.

After a nearly two-year presidential campaign, many voters are exhausted, too.

Here in Napa County, several other tough races have come to a close, even as candidates for seats on the St. Helena and Calistoga city councils still await a final tally.

With the election finally behind us, it is time for the candidates, their supporters and the members of the voting public to lay down their swords and work together for the public good.

On the national front, we have much work to do on matters from the wars in the Middle East to the sputtering economy. President-elect Obama’s observations this week, that we must put aside partisan politics to find solutions that work no matter who they come from, send the appropriate message.

The same is true here in our home county. Several critical matters await our local and regional representatives.

For the first time in his 12 years in office, Rep. Mike Thompson finds himself in a Washington where Democrats control both houses of Congress and the White House. We hope and expect that Thompson will continue to fight for fiscal restraint on the part of the debt-laden federal government while advocating vigorously for his constituents at home.

Re-elected Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, is about to take on perhaps the most thankless job in California. She will be chair of the Assembly Budget Committee in a budget crisis, and one in which many termed-out legislators may not want to do the hard work of fixing the state’s serious financial problems.

Keith Caldwell joins the Napa County Board of Supervisors just as two major projects, the Napa Pipe proposal and Angwin eco-village, enter critical political phases.

Municipal leaders from American Canyon to Calistoga must address residents’ concerns for safety and smart planning during what promises to be a difficult financial time.

So as we take down our political signs, let’s put away the political arguments that shaped the election and start the process by which we work together to make our nation and our county a better, safer, stronger place.