Democracy Lab’s Election Night Watch Party
By: Rithvik Hari, Mason Votes Contributor
Dr. Jennifer Victor and Democracy Lab students visit the U.S. Capitol.
As polls closed on Tuesday, November 4th, the Schar School of Policy and Government’s First-Year and Upper Level Democracy Lab students gathered for a watch party to see the outcomes of each of the elections across the country. With pizza and drinks provided, the students watched coverage of the elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City from various news outlets.
Early into the evening, former congresswomen and Democratic nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, was declared the winner of the Virginia gubernatorial race, defeating current Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl-Sears. Shortly after, Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate Ghazala Hashmi defeated Republican John Reid. Following that, in a close race, Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones was declared the winner over incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares.
On November 5th, it was announced that Democrats had won 64 seats in the House of Delegates while the Republicans won 36. With this announcement, Democrats had gained control over the governor’s mansion, House of Delegates, and retained control of the Virginia Senate.
“My reaction to the selection is that the Democrats performed much better than I thought they would. I did not think that they would win by such a large margin. I definitely did not think that Jay Jones would win the attorney general race and I was really shocked when I saw the results. I think it’s a big referendum on the entire country as a whole and makes the midterm elections next year very interesting,” said Montgomery Vanik, a first-year Democracy Lab student, providing a different perspective on the outcome of the election.
Alternatively, first-year student Aaron Yoo said, “I’m pleasantly surprised at the results, by that, I mean of Jones. We knew Spanberger and Hashmi would [win], that much was obvious from the selection of the Republican candidate to the polls the entire way through. Jones, however, after his scandal was a moment of worry, for two reasons. The first being that an elected official, and a candidate for attorney general, could fathomably say those words. The second, however, was that, despite those words, he was still a preferential candidate to Miyares.”
As results continued to come in, the watch party offered students an opportunity to discuss the unfolding political shifts in real time and compare their expectations with the final outcomes. For many in attendance, the evening served as a chance to engage with peers about the implications of the night’s results for Virginia and the country.
Mason Votes provided coverage of the election results as polls closed across the country.
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Photo Courtesy of: Jennifer Victor