The energy at the GOP victory party continued to climb as state after state began swinging towards Donald Trump on election night.
Minnesota republicans filtered in and out of the Radisson Blu Mall of America hotel in Bloomington as they gathered to watch electoral results trickle in with a strong representation from young voters.
Kate Watry, St. Thomas sophomore and secretary of the Young Republicans Club, understands that this is an unprecedented election, full of firsts for both parties.
“I think it’s something exciting. If Hillary wins tonight then we’ll have the first woman president, which would obviously make Susan B. Anthony incredibly proud,” Watry said referring to Anthony’s suffrage movement. “We could also have a first lady who is an immigrant, so that’s exciting as well. It’s definitely an election of firsts.”
Light chatter filled red-tinted room the room and turned to booming cheers when Trump won swing states like Ohio and Florida. An occasional “Trump for president” chant broke out after a few key states were called for Trump. Rep. Tom Emmer, who was re-elected to congress, took the stage to in front of an eager audience to continue the optimistic outlook for the evening.
“The political geniuses said this would be over by now. We’re winning. We have a long night that’s coming … There’s a long way to go and there’s a lot of fight left,” Emmer said.
A uniting factor for many in the room was their detest for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but St. Thomas sophomore Peter O’Neal also showed reluctant support for the Republican nominee.
“It was kind of a crazy election, but it was a cool experience,” O’Neal said. “A little hectic, voting for someone that you’re not really 100 percent on board with, but I’m kind of voting against Hillary at this point.”
Watry agreed, noting that she struggled with casting her vote.
“This wasn’t the candidate that most of us wanted in this election,” Watry said. “We’re disappointed in who was chosen because it doesn’t really align with our values.”
In local election results, Democrat Betty McCollum defeated Republican Greg Ryan for the U.S. House in district four by a margin of 22 points, while Democrat Keith Ellison defeated Republican Frank Drake in district five by a margin of 47 points.
St. Thomas junior Riley Horan lost the Minnesota State Representative election to Erin Murphy by a margin of 58 points.
Trump’s late victory in Pennsylvania helped him secure the position as president of the U.S.
“I’m cautiously optimistic about the future,” St. Thomas junior Joe Moede said, “I think we could be heading in the right direction.”
To read TommieMedia’s coverage of the Democratic victory party, click here.
For video coverage of both events click here.
Mary Brickner can be reached at bric0029@stthomas.edu.