TRUMP TAKES ALL

After a year-and-a-half-long battle, Donald Trump will become the next president of the United States.

Thanks in part to surprise victories, including Florida, the Associated Press called the election for Trump based on a projected 276 electoral votes. Hillary Clinton had 215 electoral votes, according to the New York Times.

“America will no longer settle for anything less than the best,” Trump told supporters after the announcement. He said Clinton called earlier to concede and congratulate him.

In Alachua County, about 59 percent of voters supported Clinton.

As of press time, Republicans were expected to take at least 227 of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the AP. Republicans were also projected to take the majority of the U.S. Senate.

At Big Daddy Warehouse, about 100 Trump supporters — dozens donning red “Make America Great Again” hats — gathered to watch the Fox News coverage of the election. White-and-blue campaign signs lined the walls, and American flags hung from the ceiling.

Lamar Moon, a 59-year-old Gainesville resident, said he was hopeful Trump would revitalize Washington and bring “business” back to the U.S.

“I think the American people are tired of the establishment from both sides,” he said.

Joshua Sookraj, a 21-year- old Newberry resident, said he would sleep easily if Hillary Clin- ton didn’t become president. A naturalized citizen from Guyana, Sookraj said Trump would curb illegal immigration and help legal immigrants like him achieve the American Dream.

“I love what Donald Trump stands for,” he said. “He’s what people aspire to be. He’s the 

ican Dream.”

For Kristina Thompson and Ni- cole Serrano, Clinton supporters, Tuesday night was one they could not spend alone.

Scared of the prospect of Trump becoming president, the couple joined a gathering of about 250 people at First Magnitude Brewing Company to drink their stresses away.

Serrano, a 22-year-old UF alum- na, said she would be crying at the end of the night no matter the out- come. For Thompson, 23, a Trump presidency was unthinkable. He said watching Trump’s debates with Clinton proved to her that his political rise has been influenced by bigotry.

“I can’t fathom a country that is run by him,” said Thompson, a Santa Fe College anthropology sophomore. “In my mind, there’s nothing scarier than a Trump presidency.”

In the thick of the crowd, Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe, a Democrat, appeared with a growler of beer, praising Clinton’s campaign. He said she did a good job reaching groups like Hispanics and African-Americans, but the race was too close to call at the time.

“We knew it was going to be razor-thin,” he said.

When he thinks back on the election, he will be reminded of his daughters and what kind of country they will grow up in. Despite

the outcome, he said he would look forward to the day that the the most powerful person in the U.S. is a woman.

“If that ceiling got crushed, it would be a remarkable day in our nation’s history,” he said.

At 101 Cantina, about 200 bodies dressed in red and blue stood pressed together as people drank and celebrated the candidates’ wins state by state.

Bartenders stood on top of the bar outside the Midtown hotspot, pouring blue and red drinks into people’s mouths. Cheers for Clinton and Trump were mostly even, but when Trump took Ohio, a key swing state, supporters jumped up and down on tables and cheered.

Olivia Johnson sat with her friends, shaking a Trump-Pence sign and screaming each time a state turned red.

The 19-year-old UF business

sophomore said she supports Trump because she believes there needs to be a change in the way politics are conducted in the country.

“I’m not looking out for me; I’m looking out for my children,” she said. “If Hillary wins — it ain’t good.”

Across the deck, Michael Reyes sat wearing all black with one strand of blue beads. The UF his- tory junior said he was not affiliated with a political party, but that he wanted Clinton to win.

“Obviously, I’m not gonna vote for Donald Trump ever,” the 20-year-old said. “I’m really nervous for this right now.”

He said he registered to vote in Alachua County, but as it seemed

Trump would win the presidency, he wished he had cast his vote in his home county of Miami-Dade.

“I messed up,” he said. “My vote would have weighed really heavily there.”

Despite a large turnout from both sides of the aisle, once Trump took Florida, many Clinton sup- porters, including Reyes, left the bar disappointed.

“I can’t watch anymore,” he said.

For Jeffrey Maldonado, a 22-year-old UF student who voted for Clinton, a victory for Trump would have lasting effects on the country’s political system.

“From now on, you don’t have to be a career politician to be president,” the political science junior said. “This is going to change politics forever.”

President-elect Donald Trump gives his acceptance speech during his election night rally, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York.