Debby Sauls and Rae Dehal, with Sauls's dog Jules: Nervous about the election, glad to be in community. MSNBC election updates blared across TV screens at queer space and pan-Asian restaurant Blue Orchid, while upbeat music played throughout the bar at around 8:50 p.m. A couple dozen people sat at the counter and around the restaurant eating and drinking, some with a blue shot that they could get for free if they showed an ​“I VOTED” sticker. Every now and then, people glanced at the TV, their eyes lingering while their mouths continued their conversations.Debby Sauls and Rae Dehal sat at the counter, watching the Pennsylvania election results coming in live. Sauls admits that she is privileged, as a citizen, to have a say in the election. Dehal, however, is not a citizen, and noted that she was a little stressed about immigration policies for this election. “I feel anxiety like for my friend, because I know for people that I know, it might affect their immigration status,” Sauls said.Dehal agreed, not just for herself, but for the people she represents at Legal Aid: ​“I feel a little bit worried about my immigration status, but my main worry is how the outcomes of the election are going to impact the clients that I see every day over the next four years.”Both were happy, though, to be in a space where everyone was hoping for the ​“same candidate.” Around them, pride flags hung from behind the counter, across the ceiling, and across the walls. Laughter and conversation ensued. A loud cheer cut through the crowd — a table had just downed blue shots.At Blue Orchid, pride flags and conversation abound. Meanwhile, with full bellies and plates of pizza in their hands, students filled the basement of Buley library at Southern Connecticut State University and watched the election results trickle in at around 8:20 p.m.The watch party marked the fourth event the library had hosted leading up to the election, holding lectures on the importance of the electoral college and sessions on the presidential and vice-presidential debates. Around 50 people were in attendance.“The library is open to everyone, and the library is a place that supports everybody’s range of ideas,” said Dr. Amy Beth, director of library services at Buley Library. ​“We think we are an important place on campus, that students … can come and learn and expand [their knowledge].”Watching results roll in together were sophomores Arielle Chetwynd and Alyssa Murphy. A secondary education major, Chetwynd described the election as ​“important” and emphasized the necessity of civic engagement among the younger generation, despite feelings of anxiety and hopelessness being prevalent at times. Murphy, a biopsychology major, echoed agreement.“I know that realistically, my single vote is not going to be a tie breaker, but at the very least it’s something rather than nothing. It feels more like a decisive decision to invest in my future than just kind of letting it play out on the sidelines,” Chetwynd said.While the night was still young, the pair were still able to find joy in the situation. When incumbent U.S. Senator Chris Murphy was announced as having on his race, the pair delightfully cheered.“Yay! Someone with the same last name as me,” Murphy exclaimed, breaking into a fit of laughter. Sophomores Alyssa Murphy and Arielle Chetwynd. AKA sisters, whose sorority includes Kamala Harris as a member, pose outside the watch party toward the start. At Terminal 110 on Long Wharf — where the Greater New Haven NAACP is hosting a watch party — the vibes were relaxed and upbeat, at around 9 p.m.Approximately 50 attendees dug into a buffet of wings, ziti and cornbread while a DJ plays Sublime — ​“background music,” he explained.ABC News blasted updates on half a dozen televisions around the bar, but the buzz of conversation obscured any race calls.For chapter President Dori Dumas, the party was the culmination of a day that started at 6 a.m., focused on driving voters to the polls and volunteering at Lincoln Bassett and Wexler Grant.“I’m exhausted, hoping to be energized soon,” Dumas said.Dumas said she’d been out door-knocking in New Haven and West Haven for three weeks, and that people had been far more receptive in the last few days. Tuesday at the polls, Dumas felt her energy matched by enthusiastic voters who agreed to call family to bring them to the polls, including in the swing states of Georgia and North Carolina.Nationally, Dumas saw democracy as being on the line in this election, and cited the conservative think tank-affiliated Project 2025 as a particularly important issue.“This election with Project 2025 could be so harmful to people in New Haven who depend on the government,” Dumas said. ​“The rich will be fine, you got to think about the working class and middle class of the city.”As the watch party rolled on at Terminal 110 and it came to be around 9:33 p.m. (and half a dozen people line danced to electronic music), attendees agreed — it was too early to tell how the election was going.Part of a trio sitting around a high table at the back of the bar was Elise Cotten, who spent 12 hours at Lincoln Bassett on Tuesday. There, in addition to talking with voters, she passed out mock ballots to kids to teach them about voting. She’d also spent the past few weeks canvassing the city to encourage voters to take advantage of Connecticut’s new early voting program, which she thought was a success.Corey Cotten, Elise’s husband, did not volunteer. ​“I canvassed through my wife,” he joked, but he did vote for Harris. Corey works in law enforcement at Bridgeport Juvenile Detention Center, and said he didn’t like Trump’s promises of full immunity for police officers.“If you do wrong, you should be held accountable, no matter who you are,” Corey said.The couple agreed that it was still too early to make any predictions. ​“We’ll see,” Elise said with a nervous smile.Rounding out the trio at the table was Mark Brevard, who said he’s feeling anxious about the results, and hope the election delivers someone with integrity into the White House.“I just wanted to be with people tonight,” Brevard said. ​“It’s going to be a late night, but I’m very optimistic.”Mark Brevard said he “hopes America does the right thing.” Back at Southern, as the clock neared 10 p.m., faculty and students cycled through the room, including Interim President Dr. Dwayne Smith and Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Jonathan Wharton. Sophomore Doris Biney came into the watch party hopeful about the election outcome, but now said that she feels a bit nervous with the results from other states rolling in.“I feel like when he [Trump] said that thing about the cats and dogs, it gave us a glimpse of the future that I don’t want to see,” she said. ​“Why are we getting bomb threats because somebody who isn’t president said something? You can see the kind of power he already has, as not president. That’s kind of scary, because a lot of immigrant lives are at stake.”Biney stressed the importance of being informed and media literacy, taking out a required book from her backpack titled Enough Said: What’s Gone Wrong with the Language of Politics? She found it applicable to the country’s current situation.“You have to take this shit seriously … There’s a lot of misinformation out there.”Couple Corey and Elise Cotten said they expected a long night. Back at Terminal 110, as polls closed across the country at 10 p.m., the DJ stopped playing music, and some of the energy had gone out of the room. Groups were chatting at the bar tables, but no one was dancing. Attendees were watching TV more closely, as commentators were pessimistic about Harris’s chances in Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona. There was a brief cheer when ABC called Colorado for Harris, but otherwise, people were subdued. Curtis Mack was watching the returns with a concerned expression. His read on the race?“Harris is underperforming and Trump is over-performing. If you’re a Democrat, you’ll have a bit of angst.” Mack said. ​“I have a bit of angst.”As surprising for Mack as the top line results, he said, was the reporting that Trump’s strength was due to increased minority support.“They’re turning on their own, believing negative rhetoric on Harris, not who Trump showed he is,” Mack said, citing Trump’s history of housing discrimination against Black renters. Mack wasn’t giving up hope, and noted that Harris would still win if she triumphs in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin — the so-called ​“Blue Wall.” He just thought it wouldn’t come to this. “It’s tense,” he concluded.Curtis Mack, who voted today, watches the returns with apprehension.