The region voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden in the presidential contest.
WASHINGTON — Horns blared, fireworks exploded and shouts of joy filled the air as supporters of Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris spilled into the streets of Washington and its suburbs late Saturday morning to celebrate the breaking news that the pair had been projected to win the 2020 presidential election. On a glorious fall day, it was news that the region, which voted overwhelmingly for Biden in the presidential contest, had been desperate to hear. Around noon, an impromptu parade broke out on the streets of the nation’s capital to celebrate Biden’s victory. A brass band perched on the back of a truck played upbeat jazz as people spilled out of homes, shops and restaurants in downtown D.C. to join the march. The crowd swelled quickly as the truck moved in the direction of the White House – first a dozen, then three dozen, and soon close to a hundred. A few policemen on motorcycles escorted the group as passing cars stopped to honk, their drivers cheering. Celebrations erupted across the city. Cheers and clapping filled the air outside Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. A few blocks away near Third and Pennsylvania Avenue SE, “The Star Spangled Banner” blasted from speakers on a repeated loop. A woman on a bicycle pedaled through the Columbia Heights neighborhood, shouting, “It’s over!” A man in Shaw stood on the curb with a stemmed glass of red wine, raising it to passersby. “We won!” he shouted in Spanish. “We won!” Fireworks exploded in bursts as neighbors emerged on porches with pots and pans to bang. Some simply stood there, raising their phones as if it were proof what they were seeing was real. “The nightmare is over,” a man called to his neighbor, ambling out of a rowhouse just before noon. On the city’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, Black, Hispanic and White residents honked their horns and cheered. People eating outdoors at restaurants pumped their fists and yelled in response. Residents popped bottles of champagne on their front porches while Latin music – a mainstay in the neighborhood – blared in the background. And in the middle of the cheers, an MPD police officer drove by and raised his fist out the window. The spontaneous celebrations in Washington mirrored others taking place in many cities and towns across America, particularly those in states such as Pennsylvania, New York, California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Georgia that helped deliver Biden’s electoral victory. Outside the White House on Saturday afternoon, D.C. residents made themselves heard. Cars honked nonstop as drivers stuck their head out windows and waved Biden flags. Cyclists cheered as they sailed past, lifting fists in the air. Along 15th Street, where protesters had so many times marched against the outgoing president, a young Black woman stuck her head above the sunroof of her car, yelling, “Finally!” A Metro bus driver stopped her bus at the corner of 16th and I streets to take a video of herself dancing with the White House in the background. Cars in gridlocked traffic honked in support, and people passing by started dancing along with her. The spontaneous celebrations around the region were not surprising given how residents had strongly supported the Biden-Harris ticket. Ninety-three percent of District voters selected Biden. He won 63 percent of Maryland voters and 54 percent of Virginia voters, but did better in both of those states in counties adjacent to the District. Nowhere was the display of jubilation more apparent than near the White House as droves of Biden supporters headed there to celebrate his win and President Donald Trump’s ouster. A bottle of champagne popped in the middle of Black Lives Matter Plaza, spraying all over the jumping, shouting crowd. Hundreds of people had flocked to the fence around Lafayette Square to celebrate the victory announcement. They wore masks that said “Vote” and Biden-Harris 2020 shirts. Some carried signs declaring “When we count, democracy wins!” As the champagne sprayed and “Sweet Caroline” blared, Dasia James and Thema Thomas began to dance in the middle of Black Lives Matter Plaza. The 23-year-old graduates of Howard University were elated that their country had elected Harris, a Black woman and fellow HBCU alum, as vice president. “This is not just Kamala’s win,” James said. “It’s a win for all Black women, especially those who fought to get voters registered in key states.” The roommates had spent the past week glued to their television screens, ordering pizza and waiting to see if their fellow citizens were ready to put their trust in a person who looked like them. “I didn’t think we were ready. I knew a Black woman could handle the job, but I didn’t know if the world was ready to accept it,” Thomas said. She looked around, at the celebrating crowd still swelling in numbers and the Harris cutout that drifted above the sea of people. “This whole week has been really anxiety-filled and this, it just feels like a nice breath of fresh air,” Thomas said. “I feel empowered again because Kamala showed that it’s possible to come from anywhere and go anywhere.” For Whit Blount, a George Washington University student studying political science, the celebration felt personal. He blinked briefly in disbelief as the crowd began to chant a new refrain: “Stacey Abrams! Stacey Abrams!” He joined in, jumping and raising his fist to punctuate Abrams’s name.
