KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris supporters in Kansas City, Missouri, converged at Mill Creek Park for the second day in a row following the announcement that the Democratic candidates were projected to defeat incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
"I feel like I've been on edge and tense for four years, and I can finally just let go and relax," Christy Reed, a Biden-Harris supporter said.
Those in attendance brandished signs with the phrases, "Trump's fired!" and "Raise a glass to freedom."
"I have no problem with people, you know, supporting one candidate or the other. But now it's just what needs to be done in our country. And let's concentrate on that," Iris Simmons, Biden-Harris supporter said.
Simmons and Reed were among those who listened as local Democratic leaders told Biden-Harris voters their passion can't go away once their candidates make it to the White House.
"We fought, we won, but the fight continues tomorrow," Melissa Robinson, Kansas City, Missouri, District 3 councilwoman, said.
While some Biden-Harris supporters opted to join and celebrate in larger settings, others opted for an intimate setting to reflect on the past few days and this election season, -- specifically the vice president being the first woman of color to hold the office.
"It's hard not to feel that like a part of her is like within all of us," Chioma Atanmo, a Biden-Harris supporter, said.
Innovate Her KC, a community of females leaders, discussed over Happy Hour Sunday outside the Belfry in Kansas City, Missouri, the effects Harris will have in the new administration.
"Diversity isn't really that new to us," Mary Ricketts, a Biden-Harris supporter, said. "You know, we're kind of used to having to do this. If we want to get something done, we collaborate differently. We are looking for ways to bring people to the table versus pushing them away."
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Tracey Hull, however, said that because Harris is "at the table in a very new way that everybody's conversation has to change."
If the nation is going to have a divided Senate, there will be "a lot that [Harris] is going to have this influence in," according to Max Baird, a Biden-Harris supporter.
And the way she will influence young girls.
"Growing up when I was little, I can't even think of who I could look on the TV to see in such high power that looked like me," Neeia Cooperwood, a Biden-Harris supporter, said. "And to think like my niece, her friends, girls that look like her they have this beacon to look up to now, it's just a beautiful thing."
Local Democratic leaders are addressing #BidenHarris2020 voters on the significance of this win. @41actionnews #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/93QFMIZKEy
— Andres Gutierrez (@AFGutierrez) November 8, 2020
Harris is the first Black woman and South Asian elected vice president in the nation's history, while Biden is the oldest president-elect at 77 years old.
The 2020 presidential election also is the first time since 1992 that an incumbent president did not secure a second term.
In his return to the White House, the former vice president also brings pets-- one of which will make history of his own as the first rescue dog in the White House -- back to the presidential home.
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