Members of Notre Dame College Democrats took over the first floor of LaFortune Student Center Tuesday night to watch state-by-state election results come in. Students arrived as early as 7 p.m. and stayed throughout the evening, which culminated in President Obama winning a second term as President.
Juniors Vanessa Silva and Zach Agudelo came clad in their College Democrats shirts and eagerly watched the night's coverage.
"I'm a political science major, so this stuff fascinates me," Silva said. "I feel very passionate about Romney not winning so I'm here watching sadly [referring to the close results]. But hopefully that will change."
Agudelo is also a political science major who interned with Brendan Mullen, the Indiana 2nd District candidate for the House of Representatives, during this campaign season.
"I'm pretty nervous about it," Agudelo said. "I interned with Mullen so I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out. I'm also from Maryland and sent in my absentee ballot for the first time. Obama will win Maryland, so that's good."
Freshmen Kevin King and Matt Munhall said they have been closely following the election and were excited to vote for the first time.
"I've been paying attention to the news this whole campaign cycle and following it pretty closely," Munhall said. "I'm from Arizona and voted with an absentee ballot. I love that in America we can have free, fair and peaceful elections every four years and that no matter the outcome we'll move forward as a nation to stop our problems."
They also agreed the atmosphere of the College Democrats' election watch was electric.
"Active democratic participation is what moves America forward," Munhall said. "I think it's interesting how in this room everyone is on their laptop checking their Twitter feeds every five seconds, checking the polls."
King has been working on and off for the Donnelly and Mullen campaigns, he said.
"I guess the only thing that could make [the election watch] better is if Obama was here himself," King said. "I'm definitely excited to see how [the election] turns out."
Sophomore and political science major Kevin Fernandez said he was pleased with the welcoming, friendly atmosphere of the election watch.
"I thought everyone was going to be kind of in cliques watching on their own; I didn't think it would be as friendly as it is," Fernandez said. "Everybody is talking and cheering as everything comes in. I've been anxious and worried all day, waiting for 7 p.m., for when it starts to matter. Nothing can pry my eyes off election coverage. I'm going to stay here a long time."
Freshman Zoe Rote, who has lived in two key states for the election, said she was specifically watching their numbers come in across the news reports.
"I'm from North Carolina, but I grew up in Colorado," Rote said. "So it's been very exciting having allegiance to two swing states and closely following their progress."
Rote and freshman May Stewart said they planned to stay at the club watch until the final results across the country came in.
"Nobody needs sleep, this is important," Stewart said.
Freshman Connor Hayes didn't hold back his celebration when Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren was predicted to win in her race for the Massachusetts Senate seat.
"I'm incredibly hopeful about Elizabeth Warren's tenure in the Senate because she's very unabashed in her views, and I think she'll add a refreshing liberal presence," Hayes said.
Hayes also said he enjoyed being surrounded by other Democrats during the election watch.
"I came because I really enjoy watching this with other people and seeing how energized my peers are about the election," Hayes said. "When you're watching it alone with just a few friends you tend to lose hope."
Graduate Will McBurney predicted the early announcement as he waited for what he considered to be a shoe-in victory for Obama.
"Obama is definitely going to be president," McBurney said. "The only two states left are really Virginia and Florida. To be honest, I am probably more excited about Romney not being president."
Just before midnight, Obama's re-election brought deafening cheers and endless excitement among the Democrats in LaFortune.
"It's heartening that we don't have an issue like we did in 2000, when the election was so close and so drawn out," Hayes said. "I'm just so thrilled to know that when I graduate it will be the result of four more years of Obama's policies, so incredibly excited for this whole new administration to take on Washington."
