Vice President Kamala Harris is hosting an election night event at Howard University, where she graduated with a degree in economics and political science in 1986 and was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Harris will attend the watch party alongside her Husband, Doug Emhoff, who teaches at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Follow along with the Voice’s coverage of Harris’ election night party as polls close across the nation.
Photo by Connor Martin
10:26 p.m. update
As the AP shows former President Trump ahead in Georgia and North Carolina, rally participants anxiously watch a jumbotron playing CNN. There are some boos in the crowd, but overall people are silent. Some attendees in the back are waving flags while the press frantically types on their laptops.
Cheers break the crowd’s silence as CNN projects Colorado for Harris, coupled with some boos as Mississippi is called for Trump. Following this win, and as the early numbers now show Harris ahead in Michigan, the mood of the crowd seems to have lightened somewhat.
Photo by Connor Martin
9:16 p.m.: Polls close in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
Polls in D.C. and Maryland closed at 8 p.m., while polls in Virginia closed at 7 p.m.
As of 9:16 p.m. the AP has called Texas, Ohio, Wyoming, Louisiana, South and North Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana for Trump.
The AP has also called Vermont, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, and New York.
8:28 p.m.: Voice reporters arrive at Howard
Photo by Connor Martin
Howard University is commonly referred to as “the Mecca” for its role as a beacon of Black thought. Harris’ election night event is set up in Howard’s central quad, known as “The Yard.” It has been the site for many commencement ceremonies and a backdrop for various speeches from U.S. presidents including Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1932, Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1965, Barack Obama in 2016, and most recently Joe Biden, who gave the commencement address in 2023.
Bleachers flank the perimeter of the Yard and are positioned in front of Founders Library and Locke Hall. The press is also here in full force: scores of broadcast cameras are set up on risers in front of the Blackburn Center, and dozens of hungry reporters are waiting in line for Chik-fil-a.
There are thousands of people gathering, and the atmosphere is upbeat. CNN is playing on jumbotrons and when a state is projected for Harris cheers erupt through the crowd.
Photo by Connor Martin
