Hundreds of people began to file into the Grand Ballroom of the Minneapolis downtown Hilton, anxious to watch the results come in and hopeful to celebrate with DFL party leaders. At 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8 the Democratic Farmers Labor Party had their annual “Election Night” party.

The main event took place in the Grand Ballroom with special guest speakers like Governor Mark Dayton, U.S. Representative Betty McCollum and Senator Al Franken. Inside of the ballroom there were large TV monitors tracking the election results, news crews everywhere, refreshment tables and a full crowd of people. Outside of the ballroom were more crowds of people, smaller TV monitors tracking the election and a few rooms for specific unions.

Representative Erin Murphy was the first to gather the crowd’s attention. She was greeted by enthusiastic cheering and then introduced the DFL party and the proceeding speakers. The entire night was filled with strong emotions coming from people who were passionate enough about this heated election to stay until 2 a.m. the next morning.

Even while facing loss, DFL party leaders advocated for support and urged people to not give up. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman rallied the crowd to cheer again and again during his speech while Donald Trump took his first lead on Hillary Clinton.

“We need to fight for DFL values, in City Halls and in county courtrooms,” Coleman said. “We need to continue to fight to keep morale up and keep moving this great state forward.”

Outside and in, people hugged and cried, but many focused intently, keeping themselves updated on the CNN news streams until the election was called, whether it be for the various state and local positions or until Donald J. Trump was announced as the president-elect.