By Omer Sanchez
Penn State Altoona had an Midterm Election Watch Party on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Hawthorn Building from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
There were only three students that were attending the event and all of them seemed relaxed. The three students didn’t seem to panic when any opposing party member seemed to be “winning.” But despite this, the students attending kept saying it was too early to celebrate or be disappointed.
Lexi Lonas, a Political Science sophomore from Johnstown, Pa. said,
“Still very early, still didn’t think the Democrats would take the House with a large margin so far. They’re going to take the House easily and the Republicans will take the Senate.”
Nicolas Saltsgiver, an undecided sophomore from Apex, N.C. said,
“Surprised with how bad the Democrats are doing so far.”
8 p.m.
The students attending the event haven’t been surprised with the way the election has been going. With both parties having similar chances of winning both Senate and House. The odds for the Democrats winning the House was relatively the same through the first few hours of the election. The students mutually agreed that the Republicans will probably win the U.S. Senate while the Democrats will win the house.
No signs of any hostility or any disagreements. No arguments that has turned crazy overall everyone seems to be relaxed.
8:45 p.m,
Roughly 10 to 12 more people joined and the mood change from being bored but happy to happier, talkative and friendlier. There’s a huge increase of people socializing and more topics have been brought. Overall there was this sudden change in mood and atmosphere.
There were some students weren’t too well informed on how politics work. Some of those students were asking how President Donald Trump passes laws and another student asked if this election would affect President Trump. Then some explained a bit of the basics of politics.
At 9 p.m.
People seem to be in a happy mood despite seeing results they might not like. The ones that were disappointed didn’t seem too disappointing and didn’t show signs of being angry. The students were annoyed maybe, but not frustrated. Seems like everyone is getting along and there’s no chaos at this time. People have noticed the Democrats’ odds of winning the House changing. For example 9:18 p.m. a student noticed the notice Democrats chances of winning the House dropped from 5 in 7 to 4 in 7
9:45 p.m.
People started leaving since it was becoming late, or at least it was late for the students already leaving. But overall the vibe didn’t seem to change and was consistent the entire time, no hostility.