BERKELEY — Outdoors a modest yellow bungalow in West Berkeley, some handled their election day anxiousness by making a pilgrimage to Kamala Harris’ childhood residence to snap selfies, hoping they might flip into treasured reminiscences of the day the nation elected its first ladies President.
“We’re very proud,” stated Diana Shapiro, 53, who lives a couple of block away from the condominium the place Harris spent a part of her childhood. Shapiro’s entrance yard is adorned with Harris posters; inside her lounge is a framed portrait of the vp. Shapiro predicted the neighborhood, nicknamed “Poet’s Corner,” would erupt right into a spontaneous avenue celebration if Harris wins. “It would be amazing to have our first woman president,” she stated.
However first, she needed to wait. Because the solar set on election day, folks throughout the nation appeared to be holding their breath. They have been ready for the polls to shut, so the election outcomes may begin to are available. Ready to seek out out, after one of many wildest and costliest political campaigns in American historical past, who could be president.
Thousand Oaks Elementary College college students stroll handed a mural picturing outstanding ladies and college alumnus Vice President Kamala Harris final month in Berkeley.
(Peter DaSilva / For The Occasions)
Maybe nowhere within the nation was this ready extra acute — or the joy and anxiousness increased — than within the Bay Space.
Would the hometown woman make good? Would Kamala Harris, a self-proclaimed “daughter of Oakland” who spent a part of her childhood in Berkeley and launched her political profession with an underdog triumph within the 2003 race for San Francisco District Lawyer, win the very best workplace within the land?
{A photograph} of Kamala Harris, Maya Harris and their mom, Shyamala Gopalan, featured in Kamala Harris’ ebook “The Truths We Hold.”
(Courtesy of Kamala Harris)
One other Poet’s Nook neighbor, Joanie McBrien, 59, stated she had headed out into the streets to attempt to stroll off her anxiousness. “It’s just too stressful,” she stated. “It’s a close race and who knows what will happen.”
Others within the Democratic stronghold of the Bay Space, nevertheless, determined to to throw warning to the winds and begin partying early.
Throughout the Bay Bridge at John’s Grill in downtown San Francisco, streets have been closed off and already mobbed by early afternoon with election day celebrants crowding in for the restaurant’s conventional election day lunch. The George Washington Excessive College Marching Band performed, and long-time San Francisco politicos, dressed of their election day finest, labored the gang and posed for photographs.
“She won,” insisted former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, an early mentor to Harris (and briefly, a romantic companion). Although polls have been nonetheless open for practically eight extra hours, Brown, sporting a classy maroon go well with and a high hat, stated he was so assured of the end result, that he was “referring to this as the first celebration of her victory.”
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown speaks exterior John’s Grill in San Francisco in 2023.
(Eric Risberg / Related Press)
Close by, Manny Yekutiel, the proprietor of Manny’s, a restaurant and civic gathering area within the metropolis’s Mission District, was buzzing round displaying off his “patriotic nails” painted purple white and blue and festooned with glitter. “I’m very excited to have Kamala Harris as my next President,” he stated, saying he was sure it might be “the beginning of a whole new moment in history for our country.”
So fervid was the joy that many native information websites revealed guides to public election events, the place Bay Space residents may go have fun or — although nobody would dare say it — mourn the outcomes.
Again in Oakland, many citizens walked out of polling stations saying they felt the burden of historical past.
“Kamala’s a woman of color, and from Oakland,” stated Sophia Lewis, 24. Whereas Lewis had some criticisms of Harris’ insurance policies she stated she far most well-liked her to Trump. “A lot of people are feeling prideful.”
Dropping off his poll in Oakland, Kasper Dilmaghani, 35, stated even eager about having voted for a Black lady from Oakland for president was awe inspiring. “I’m getting chills,” he stated.
Occasions Workers Author Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.
