Squeezed among adults and older teens at Opie Taylor’s, a pair of elementary school-aged girls snaked between legs as the crowd at the Monroe County Democratic Party watch event waited for Shelli Yoder, who ran for 9th District United States Representative, to arrive after her final day on the road.
“Hill-a-ry! Hill-a-ry!” the little girls chanted in unison.
Half a block down on Walnut Street, between Athena and Seaview Outfitters, the plaque commemorating a speech given by famed suffragette Susan B. Anthony was decorated with 10 “I Voted” stickers on election night in a replication of the actions of voters who have been adding their stickers to Anthony’s grave in Rochester, New York.
The girls in in the restaurant were too young to fully understand the historic precedent of this election, but the sign’s decorations prove the older generations of women around them were not.
To watch election results come in, local Democrats gathered Tuesday in Opie Taylor’s restaurant. Some were women watching other women run for offices including county commissioner, house representative and president.
One of these viewers was Jenny Stevens, a self-described super volunteer for Yoder who works in the IU School of Informatics.
“If we lose everything but the White House, I’m gonna be majorly depressed tomorrow,” she said.
A group of IU undergraduate students, interning for the John Gregg for Governor campaign, crowded at the front of the restaurant. Tables were too full for Opie Taylor’s to seat them, but they stood and waited diligently.
In the meantime, they watched presidential results trickle in.
“This is a historic race, you guys,” one of the young women said. “We could either elect our first woman president or our first tangerine.”
Two young men stood to the side of the group. Their necks craned up to watch CNN predict the presidential count in Florida. With only 15 percent of votes counted, Donald Trump had the lead.
“That could be better,” one of them said after a pause.
His friend made a joke about the election being rigged, and the first watcher came back with a quick response.
“I was surprised when I went to vote there was nobody pointing a gun at me,” he said.
Waitresses dodged Yoder’s friends, family and supporters to deliver food and drinks to the chattering crowd. Somehow, they avoided any major disasters and managed to safely deliver liter mugs of beer and fresh plates of Macho Nachos balanced in the crooks of their elbows.
They served drinks to a long table of graduate students, most of them women, who sat at the front of the restaurant.
The students were from all different departments — law, political science, public health, cultural anthropology and even math.
Two women at the end of the table discussed projections for Supreme Court justice nominees but decided everything is still up in the air, because the president hadn’t even been chosen at this point.
“What can’t continue is the way the Senate is obstructing,” Sam Von Ende said.
Her T-shirt bears the iconic outline of Rosie the Riveter but showcases Hillary Clinton in the denim and red bandana instead.
Like Von Ende, many of the Democrats wore tees to support their party, candidates and issues.
Shirts, buttons and stickers were among the most popular shows of support in the crowd.
“Voter for Yoder.”
“Love Trumps Hate.”
“I’m with her.”
“HIL YES.”
Stevens sported three buttons and a shirt for Clinton and a sticker for Yoder.
As the Indiana results finalize, Stevens ran into Julie Thomas, who is running for Monroe County commissioner.
“Did you get reelected?” Stevens asked.
At this point, Thomas hadn’t checked the results.
“I hope so,” she said.
Although Thomas retained her seat, the race had been called a different way for Yoder by the time she showed up at Opie Taylor’s around 10 p.m.
Supporters embraced Yoder tightly before she made her way to stand in front of the cameras and give her concession speech.
Eyes glossy, face slightly red, she kept her politician’s poise as she stepped onto the podium that had been waiting for her all night.
Yoder may have lost the race, but she refused to lose her smile.
“I was surrounded by so much hope, so much belief, so much goodness,” Yoder said.
Toward the end, she began to break down as she encouraged young people, with an emphasis on girls and young women, not to give up on their own dreams.
“This is our home, and we do have work ahead of us,” Yoder said.
At the end of the night, two more stickers had joined the others on Susan B. Anthony’s plaque. They remained stuck, despite rain curling them at the edges earlier in the evening.
Five were reinforced with Scotch tape and someone had pressed the edges of each one back down, which seemed to be the only reason they have yet to end up on the ground.
