NEW YORK, New York — It has been a night of wild mood swings for supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who are gathered at the New York Midtown Hilton to celebrate the 2016 campaign and to watch results.
Earlier in the evening, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton led in Florida, the Grand Ballroom was subdued. Yet as Trump took a late lead in the Sunshine State, cheers erupted around television monitors, and the mood in the hall brightened.
There were some cheers for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as he won his re-election easily. Though relations between the Rubio and Trump camps remain frosty, turnout for Rubio in southern Florida may have helped Trump significantly. And there were also cheers as results came in from Virginia and Ohio, showing Trump marginally and significantly ahead, respectively.
There were boos as Fox News called New York for Hillary Clinton. Early in the campaign, Trump had said that he could win New York. The state’s 29 Electoral College votes were never in much doubt, but Trump remains competitive in other “blue” states in the Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest regions, with Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and others still too close to call.
The well-dressed crowd included some Trump campaign staff members and their families, for whom the last eighteen months have been a daring adventure. Written off time and time again, the Trump campaign persevered to make Election Night the most competitive, thus far, since the 2004 election.
As of 9:25 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, there are several key swing states still voting, including Nevada and Iowa, where Trump campaigned in the last week of the race.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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