By Marielle Winuk

Students and community members lined up on the first floor of the Jolly Giant Commons, ready to have their voices heard. Democrats did very well in Humboldt, a trend that continued throughout the nation. Democratic Congressmen Damon Connoly and Jared Huffman took substantial leads in the reports from the Humboldt County Office of Elections.

For many students at Cal Poly Humboldt this election was their first time voting. Les Arreola, a history major with an education concentration shared how her vote amplified more than just her voice.

“My parents don’t have the privilege of voting and honestly I’m giving myself a voice but I feel like I’m also giving them a voice as well,” Arreola said.

Jaquy Shanteau, a music major, grew up in a politically active family and was excited when it was their turn to cast a ballot.

“I’ve been really excited to finally be able to vote because my parents have been very politically inclined and they’ve shown me a lot about the voting process so I was like, yay finally my turn,” Shanteau said.

The polls closed at 8 p.m. and around 8:30 p.m., the Humboldt County Office of Elections released the first election-night report.

In the Arcata City Council race, incumbent Kimberley White showed an early lead with 825 of the 2,545 early votes cast by mail. The last seat is an incredibly close race between Abigail Stickland and Genevieve Serna with only nine votes currently separating them.

Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra won the governorship by a landslide, becoming the first Latino California governor. In Humboldt County, 9,858 of the 14,402 votes counted so far went to Becerra. Burak Yildiz, an environmental science & management and climate and energy major, felt that the primary earlier this year had already decided who he would vote for in the midterms.

“I didn’t know if I was the most excited for Becerra,” Yildiz said. “But by the time it gets to like, Hilton or Becerra, then it was like the choice has already been made for me. Whereas with the primary it felt more like that than when you had a pretty large selection.”

According to the Associated Press, Democrats gained control of the Senate with a 53-42 majority due to key states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Maine flipping from Republican to Democrat representatives. In the House races the Democrats also led with 220 seats and the Republicans holding onto 128 seats.

At the time of publication these races are not finalized. California gives the election offices 30 days to certify the election.

In a world where an affordability crisis is at the forefront of students’ lives, Daniel Fernandez, a mechanical engineering major, echoed the importance of voting.

“It’s definitely a good feeling being able to feel like you can impact the government somehow, especially in the current day and age religion right now, where everything’s so crazy,” Fernandez said.

Marielle is the layout editor with an interest in sports and elections. Contact her at mmw146@humboldt.edu.