Democrats and their supporters gathered last night at Denver's downtown Sheraton Hotel to celebrate the turning of Colorado from a purple state into solid blue.
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Spirits were high, to say the least, as the crowd listened to election results pour in from across the state. The crowd went wild when Mark Udall took to the stage to make his acceptance speech for the U.S. Senate. He acknowledged his opponent Republican Bob Schaffer was a formidable candidate and said the race was hard fought.
The crowd's reception to Udall paled in comparison, however, to how they reacted when it was announced that Sen. Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States. As CNN projected Obama victorious over Republican Sen. John McCain, supporters crowded around TV monitors cheered, cried, and hugged one another.
Prominent Democrats, such as U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, former Gov. Roy Romer, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, embraced each other and danced on stage in celebration of Obama’s victory.
Nearly all of the Democrats who addressed the crowd thanked volunteers and supporters and stressed that their work is not over. Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak said she thought it is definitely going to be a challenge to keep newly registered voters, who are largely credited with the party's victories, engaged in the political process for the next election cycle.
With election results largely now known, Waak expressed concern and curiosity about who Gov. Bill Ritter will choose to replace Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who last night was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“One of the things I’m very concerned about is making sure we get a secretary of state who is non-partisan,” Waak said.