On Tuesday night, election watch parties across Philadelphia and the nation projected optimism about a Harris victory and stressed the importance of young voters in determining the election outcome — hopes that were crushed hours later with Donald's Trump increasingly likely presidential win.
Local Democratic organizations gathered in Old City for a watch party featuring an appearance from Phila. Mayor Cherelle Parker, while former presidential candidate Andrew Yang attended a Forward Party watch party nearby. In Washington, the Harris-Walz campaign held a watch party at Vice President Kamala Harris’ alma mater, Howard University.
More than 250 people gathered at an Old City watch party on Tuesday night co-hosted by the Philadelphia Young Democrats, the Philadelphia Democratic Party, the PA Dems, and the Office of the Mayor. Although there were several interruptions during the live streams due to network issues, event attendees remained in high spirits early in the night, chanting Harris’ campaign mantra, “When we fight, we win!”
The mood was further lifted as Democratic candidates were announced as winners in several races, including Josh Stein, who won the North Carolina governor’s race, and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who secured a third term in the U.S. Senate. Cheers and celebrations continued among audience members when Harris was projected to win Delaware and New York, and as Democrat incumbent Bob Casey (D-Pa.) narrowly led in the United States Senate election against Dave McCormick.
PA Dems political director and president of Philadelphia Young Democrats John Brady told The Daily Pennsylvanian that helping college students vote nowadays rarely entails telling them why it’s important.
“It’s thrilling because it means that we have a more politically educated and interested college campus population in Pennsylvania, especially in Philadelphia, than we [have] ever had,” Brady said.
He added that this increase in involvement can be attributed to college students realizing their importance in the election cycle, citing young voters as the strongest and most important demographic a candidate can secure.
As election projections switched from being “too early to call” to being “too close to call” in several states, groans and sighs could be heard among audience members. However, attendees cheered shortly after seeing that Harris was leading in a very close Pennsylvania poll.
2016 Fels Institute of Government graduate and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker made a brief appearance at around 10:55 p.m. to thank attendees and provide remarks on Trump’s allegations that “massive cheating” was happening in the city.
“It’s also important for me to note for the record that Philadelphia has conducted this election freely, fairly, and securely as we always knew it would,” Parker said.
Parker concluded by highlighting Pennsylvania's, and Philadelphia’s, pivotal role in the election.
“You heard us say from the very beginning that we knew the path to the White House had to come through our Keystone State, and to get through the Keystone State, you had to contend with our city of Philadelphia,” she said.
Meanwhile, at another bar in Old City, former Democratic presidential candidate and Forward Party founder Andrew Yang attended an election watch party and spoke with the DP about the state of the election.
Yang said that he hopes the Forward Party will open opportunities for more civic engagement for young people, who often do not feel represented in current politics.
“Whether it's poverty or climate change or AI or education, the problems of this era don't seem to be getting addressed because our political figures right now don't need to solve them to stay in office,” Yang said.
While the Forward Party has not publicly supported specific candidates, Yang has endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris. Yang told the DP that former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump “represents an extreme,” expressing his concern about Trump’s impact on democracy.
“If you have one of the two major parties succumb to bad leadership, then that leader can take over everything,” Yang said. “If you had a more representative system, that wouldn't be possible.”
Despite his endorsement of Harris, after Trump's victory Yang posted a message in support of Trump on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"Defending democracy means accepting election results that don’t go your way. Congrats to Donald Trump — I hope that he brings people and the country together," Yang wrote.
College first year Gabe McGuire is president of the Young Forwardists, the youth wing of the Forward Party. He said he is supporting Harris in the presidential race, saying the election is a question between “democracy and democratic backsliding.”
McGuire emphasized that affecting change in the political system is up to young voters.
“You have a vote, you have a choice, but you also have a chance to get involved … and if you don’t get involved, who will?”
In Washington, tens of thousands of supporters gathered at the Harris-Walz campaign watch party at Howard University to follow the election results.
Early through the night, there was an upbeat presence in the crowd despite Harris’ lull in the results. In between election coverage on the main media screen, music breaks featured songs that have been played at Harris’ past rallies and campaign events. Before the election coverage began, there were several live performances for the crowd including a performance from members of The Divine Nine — historically Black fraternities and sororities.
Howard University President Ben Vinson III spoke toward the beginning of the watch party, in which he discussed the history of Howard University and the theme of unity.
“Our yard, which is a symbol of unity, a nexus point for this campus, tonight our yard is open in unity for all people. People of all races, creeds, gender, ethnicities, and backgrounds,” Vinson said.
Audience members and media originally anticipated that Harris would address the watch party at some point in the night, but she did not appear.
The Harris for President Campaign Co-chair Cedric Richmond was the final voice to address the crowd, stating that Harris would not be coming to speak.
“We will continue over night to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. So, you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow," he said. "She will be back here tomorrow to not only address the H.U. family, not only to address her supporters, but to address the nation."
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