Rock The Vote Hosts Election Party In Santa Ana
Comments (0)
Rock the Vote (Frances Vega)
People from all parties were invited to Original Mike's in Santa Ana to listen to music and watch the returns as they came in.
Attendees enjoyed free food, drink specials, and live music throughout the night to help them wind down after a long day of campaigning and rallying people to vote.
Major political figures from all parties invited to the event. Loretta Sanchez, Miguel Pulido, John Hanna, and John Karczynski Ferguson were all confirmed to attend.
The mood was mellow at Original Mike's.
Many people stopped by just for a quick bite to eat and to catch up with some friends.
Because there were two other elections parties going on within blocks of each other, many people were party hopping throughout the night.
Loretta Sanchez and the Democratic Party of Orange County each had separate celebration parties in the area.
Many people did not seem to pay much attention to the election coverage being broadcast on the big screen.
People said they wanted to socialize and listen to performers Killola, ACIDIC and Dian Katz. Even though not many people were talking politics among their friends, everyone knew exactly what was going on in the election. Every time someone asked for an update a friend was nearby with the answer.
The South County Democratic Party Vice Chair, Jacob Sangiorgio, likened the night to being at a Super Bowl party.
“I’m here to relax with some friends but also watch the returns,” Sangiorgio said. “When you’re a politico it’s kind of like Super Bowl Sunday but to a greater length because there’s so many elections going on right now and there’s so much at stake so it should be fun to watch and see who’s winning and what initiatives are getting passed and to share in the celebration with everyone.”
Frank Barbaro, chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County, shared similar sentiments. After a long day of talking with the media and encouraging others to vote, he wanted to sit down and enjoy watching the returns.
“I came over here, I wanted to catch the results as they come in and I’m very happy to see that they’ve called Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer victors already and I’m waiting to see some of our local races because we’ve got some pretty hot items going on here in Orange County,” Barbaro said.
The hot races Barbaro referenced included the race between house rep Loretta Sanchez (D) and former assemblyman Van Tran (R). It was the most difficult race Sanchez had to face in 14 years. Many supporters were paying close attention to the race, fearing that she might lose her seat in the house.
Other important elections in Orange County included the race between Allan Mansoor and Phu Nguyen and the race between Melissa Fox and Don Wagner.
Unfortunately, attendees didn’t have an easy time keeping up with local election results.
“The problem with the TV is that they’re not covering the smaller local races because they’re all nationwide channels and I’m curious to see how Melissa Fox is going to do for assembly and Beth Krom for Congress and also we have some city council candidates running all over the county,” Sangiorgio said.
The Rock the Vote party kept going in full swing until the bar closed at around midnight. By that time most partygoers had a pretty good idea who had won the elections.
SLIDESHOW:
