The Daily is reporting live on California elections, campus ‘Democracy Day’ events and Stanford community reactions to the results of the midterms.

Students celebrate Annie Andrews’s victory, Democratic control of the House — 7:01 p.m.

Students at the Arbor watch party cheered for Annie Andrews’ election as the next senator of South Carolina. A few minutes later, an even larger cheer erupted amongst the crowd of 300 attendees as Democrats secured control of the U.S. House. 

Andrews’s victory was “amazing,” said Bruno Diaz ’29. “It’s a sign of many good things to come.”

“There’s gonna be room for more substantial oversight over the executive branch,” he said.

“This is exactly what we needed,” attendee Ariffin Ali ’27 said in reaction to the news and reflecting on the current state of international policy. 

First year graduate student Wyeth Haddock expressed similar sentiments. He was not very happy with the past two years under the current administration, he said. Gas prices and the cost of living were among his concerns during the election, but “something that just irks me is the level of corruption in our government.”

Meanwhile, students continue to look towards races that have yet to be called. “I’m from Houston, so I am really tuned in to the Talarico race, and I hope he wins,” Mahika Thota ’30 said.

Some students confused on Prop 40, stress importance of voting  — 5:40 p.m.

Proposition 40, which would impose a 5% tax on taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets, was a point of focus for students casting their ballots today. Amari Porter ’27 said she did not understand the difference between Propositions 40 through 42, two propositions she said were intentionally confusing. Kai Lobell ’27 stressed the importance of educating himself on Proposition 40 when casting his ballot.

Lawrance Cruz ’30, a freshman from Pennsylvania, agreed. While he is “not really expecting anything to change in California,” Cruz was going “back and forth” on Proposition 40,” he said. “It seemed like a pretty good thing but then a lot of people are against it, so I have to do more research on it.” 

Sophomore Max Kelly ’29 told The Daily that he was feeling anxious about the election and the state of the country. “I feel like our generation is very disillusioned right now,” Kelly said, citing pressing issues like AI, climate change and war.

Cruz pointed out that “we have kind of a majority of everything being Republican and we see how that has affected our country in these last couple years.” He hopes that his vote can help “limit the power of our current government,” he said.

Georgia and Virginia elections called, watch party to begin – 5:17 p.m. 

Elections in Georgia and Virginia have both been called as polls begin to close across the country. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was reelected in Georgia and Democrat Mark Warner was elected for the Senate in Virginia. 

Democracy Day staff have begun to set up tonight’s election watch party at The Arbor. 

“It’s looking pretty contentious,” said organizer Supriya Patel ’28. It’ll be interesting and exciting to see what happens.”

Other attendees agreed. “I’m feeling so excited. I’m a registered Democrat, and I’m really hopeful,” Thai Dinh ’30 said. Din plans to stay out until 10 p.m. to watch results roll in.

Students across the political spectrum debate welfare, diversity, Iran War and AI — 5:15 p.m.

Students representing liberal and conservative viewpoints debated immigration, diversity, foreign policy, economic issues, AI and democracy at an “Across the Aisle” event in White Plaza.

The debate, moderated by the Stanford Political Review, featured Waleed Haider ’29 and Ishaan Quazi ’30 on the liberal side, with Spencer Bluth ’30 and Daniel Jackson ’30 on the conservative side.

Debaters disagreed on whether diversity ought to be considered in university applications. “We’re supporting fairness, and meritocracy,” Quazi said in support of race-conscious admissions. Meanwhile, Jackson said that accepting candidates on the basis of their race was the opposite of fairness.

On the Iran War, Haider described Trump’s foreign policy as misaligned with U.S. intelligence and costly for taxpayers. Jackson contested this characterization, stressing the danger of Iranian nuclear development. The U.S. needs to be the “world police and world doctor,” he said.

Another point of focus was the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a food benefits program for low-income families. Bluth said there was not yet enough evidence to link recent cuts to SNAP to unemployment or poverty rates. The move may have instead motivated Americans to attain employment, he said. He asked the audience if they would like their tax dollars to go toward able-bodied adults who choose not to work; most of the audience said they would.

Regarding AI, both sides agreed that models should be developed with safety and responsibility in mind.

Campus polls see large turnout among student voters – 3:42 p.m.

Students are heading out to vote at campus polling sites. According to John Bard, Vote Center lead at Tresidder Memorial Union, today is the center’s busiest day thus far since opening on Saturday.

“I believe in democracy, so I think we need fair, safe and secure elections,” said Bard, who is in his third year working at the Vote Center. “Participating in them as a community member is one way of making sure that happens.” 

California law allows for same-day voter registration. This means students registered in another state can still vote on campus today by registering in person at a vote center as Santa Clara County residents. 

“Every vote counts,” Bard said. “We do our best to serve everybody that comes through the door and allow them to have their voice heard in the election for whatever candidates and issues are on the ballot.”

Poet Amanda Gorman delivers keynote address at Democracy Day – 3:24 p.m.

Poet and activist Amanda Gorman spoke at Dinkelspiel Auditorium this morning. She read her poem “The Sacred Scene” following a conversation about the interplay of art and politics. 

“There is something poetry can do that prose can’t always make possible in the hearts of people,” Gorman told a large audience.

Gorman pushed back on the idea that voting in an overwhelmingly blue state like California doesn’t matter, urging students to cast their ballots. “I vote so the world that died to get me here has a voice in today,” she said. 

Alexa Adutwum ’30 described the event as “surreal,” recalling Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration when Gorman read “The Hill We Climb.”

“Seeing someone who was so inspirational to me at that time in person was very motivational,” Adutwum said. “Your vote is part of the history of the past, especially as an African American in this country. I think that’s very special.”

Democracy Day drives civic engagement across campus – 2:44 p.m.

Democracy Day events aimed at promoting civic engagement have been ongoing since this morning.

French professor Dan Edelstein, founder of Teach for America Wendy Kopp and CEO of Teach for America Aneesh Sohoni engaged in a panel discussion on post-graduate opportunities in the education sector.   

Meanwhile, Stanford ACLU led “Protesting 101,” a presentation designed to teach students how to effectively organize and participate in protests.

“Should AI Rule the World?”, a simulation event at Old Union, had attendees create AI agents that mirror their own political views. The agents are currently debating various political issues among themselves, which organizers say will teach attendees the dangers of having AI act on their political behalf.

George Porteous contributed reporting.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the title of the poem that Gorman read. The Daily regrets this error.