Election Day memories revisited 

On this Election Day, we walked down memory lane and heard your most significant memories. 

Several retired political reporters and editors joined MPR News host Angela Davis to talk about Election Days past.

They talked about the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, when Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008, and the 1998 election when former wrestler Jesse “The Body" Ventura shocked the world and was elected governor of Minnesota.

We also checked in with MPR News senior reporter Jon Collins, who was at the polls in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Guests:

• Jon Collins, MPR News senior reporter

• Pat Kessler, WCCO's senior political reporter

• Lynda McDonnell, retired Pioneer Press political editor

• Dane Smith, retired Pioneer Press and Star Tribune political reporter

• Gene Lahammer, retired State Capitol reporter for The Associated Press

Check out some of the memories our audience shared with us below.

Note: The submissions have been edited for length and clarity.

“The year Jesse Ventura was elected, I left a job in the newsroom of a local news organization a few months before Election Day. It was the first time in my working life I had not spent the Election Day evening in a frantic newsroom, and I was going through a little bit of withdrawal. As I sat stewing in my living room with nothing to do, I seriously considered calling up my former news editor and asking if I could come in to help — even if it just meant going out to get coffee/food for the staff that was working so hard. It was such an exciting evening, and it was really hard not to be in the thick of it.” — Carol

“An election memory that stands out for me is the 1990 Senate race, where Paul Wellstone crisscrossed the state in his green bus speaking of progressive ideas, running against lumber store baron Rudy Boschwitz, the well-funded incumbent. I was a college student disillusioned about the political process and was sure that big money would prevail. I went to bed election night without results and woke the next day to the emotional news that Wellstone had won. A stunning victory for the ‘little guy,’ and a bit of faith restored that the system can work when the candidate does the work. Senator Wellstone, you are so missed!” — Sandra

“This is not a wonderful story nor heart-warming tale, but it may be my most significant Election Day memory. For many years, I was involved politically and voted independently. Walking through my Uptown neighborhood, with green Ralph Nader signs displayed on almost every lawn, was my idea of a good time. Fast forward to 2016. I got excited about Trump because I sensed he had the sensibility of an independent. I never dreamed I would attend a Republican caucus. Throughout the fall, I became aware of a conspicuous bias in the major media; a bias I hadn't noticed before because usually my candidates were not part of the national coverage and sometimes not even allowed to debate. I found the bias disturbing and not emblematic of the principles I believed this country to be founded upon. Fast forward to election night. As the votes continued to come in, and as it became clearer that not only Trump was in the running, but that he could win, the faces on the liberal media stalwarts was priceless. Many of them across the major networks were literally at a loss for words. Anchors like Norah O'Donnell were stunned; and I love Norah O'Donnell. I was not reveling in their misfortune, nor enjoying my candidate's comeback, but I was relishing that a group of people that had conducted themselves with compromised integrity ultimately learned a lesson and perhaps got what they deserved. The look of astonishment on Norah's face and her subsequent fumbling for words is my most memorable election night experience. The people were speaking.” — John

“My most vivid election memory is 10:00 p.m. Nov. 4, 2008. I was teaching 6th grade and one of my students, Devon, called at about 9:50 p.m. that night on the verge of hyperventilating, ‘Mr. Vernosh, do you think he will do it? Do you think he's actually going to win?’

We talked politics and family for a few more minutes and I could tell his family had a watching party and we were both watching CNN. The clock turned to 10:00 p.m. CNN echoed between our phones, they called California, and projected that Sen. Barack Obama was now to be President-Elect Obama. I heard cheers on the phone. Devon screamed even louder than those from his family, ‘Mr. Vernosh, he did it! Oh my god, he did it! Obama won. I'm sorry, I gotta go, Mr. Vernosh.’

As he hung up, I hear him yelling to his mom, ‘Mom, Mom, can you believe he did it!’ He hung up and I wept. I wept because of the joy of the moment. I wept because of the hope President Obama, the first Black president, brought to all of us, especially the students and families I served, of which about 95 percent were Black. Fast forward two years and I was able to share that moment, with President Obama in the Oval Office while meeting with him as Minnesota Teacher of the Year. So while Devon wasn't able to be with me there, his voice and those voices of all my students, certainly were.” — Ryan

“One of the first times I voted was the Jesse Ventura race for Minnesota governor. I remember driving along I-35 and seeing one of his green ‘Ventura, Jesse for Governor’ billboards and feeling like he was going to win. We convinced the waiter at Old Chicago to turn on election coverage that night. I know people have mixed feelings about what he did in office but his run, and win, instilled in me that anything is possible in politics. I don't vote down party lines and am not affiliated with either of the two major political parties and I think it is due in part because of the foundation I have in seeing Jesse win. The discourse that was not just divided in two and I liked that.” — Jackie

“My most memorable Election Day memory is when Barack Obama won the 2008 election. I had voted before but this was the first election I was really passionate about. Obama gave me hope and something to be excited about. I was ready for a Black president. When I found out that he won, I burst into tears of joy. It was absolutely incredible.” — Ruth

“I think one of my more memorable Election Day memories was from 2016. I was 15 and I couldn't vote, but it still is so vivid for me. I was sitting in bed watching election coverage and I started get more and more nervous. I just remember crying for hours as it became more clear that Trump would win. I was deeply in the closet at the time, but I knew he would begin to strip away at LGBT rights and he has. And I knew people of color would get treated even worse than they already would under Trump, which has happened. I remember going to school the next morning. At the time I lived in Texas. Kids were screaming white power and similarly racist things all day. It's more memorable than the first time I voted, which was in the 2020 presidential primary.” — Haleigh

“I am old enough to remember going to the polls with my parents in 1960, when I was 5 years old. My mother explained the importance of the election process, and it left an impression on me that I still feel when I vote. Voting is a privilege that we should not take for granted.” — Pamela

“I worked for Carter in 1976. Hanging out with the team and watching the returns was so fun and when the trusted news source called the election the room exploded with cheers and hugs all around! It was like New Years Eve x10.” — Wally

“My most significant Election Day memory happened all the way back in 2019. After leaving the world of journalism the year before, I wanted to do something to help my community. I knew that St. Paul City Council elections were coming up, so since I had met my councilmember (Rebecca Noecker) before, I decided to volunteer for her reelection campaign. She asked if I would nominate her for the endorsement at the Ward 2 DFL convention and it was an honor. Fast forward a few months to Election Night 2019, when I followed the results from my phone on the couch after mistakenly forgetting to take the night off of work. A friend of mine at the Noecker campaign’s watch party DM’d me saying ‘she won!’ and I danced in my house. It was a likely result but it felt so good anyway because I helped make it happen. It made me realize that local races are just as important as national ones (if not more so!)” — Cass

“When I was 7 years old, Obama was running for president the first time. My mom and dad brought me to the polls with them on Election Day and told me about Obama. I felt so excited to join my parents. Them bringing me to vote sparked many questions. I was also able to do a mock voting within my school. Around my 8th birthday, Obama was sworn into presidency. My second grade teacher let us watch it instead of going to recess. I was so excited to watch him be sworn in. It was a memory that I still think back upon and first got me interested in American government.” — Madisyn

“I was pregnant with my oldest in 2000. I was due Nov. 19, but I had been on partial bed rest starting at the end of September because the doctor was very concerned about early delivery. My best friend had a dream in October in which I was watching election returns in the hospital, and I thought two weeks early sounded okay. Well, election night came and went, That was the Bush-Gore ‘hanging chad’ election, and when I finally (!) gave birth on Nov. 26, we have pictures in the hospital where CNN is on in the background, and we’re watching election returns.” — Deanne

I'm Filipino American living in Hastings. Every time I've gone to vote (three elections) there’s this one white woman checking IDs refusing to believe I'm already registered, saying she can't find me. I have to ask her multiple times to re-check the list before she lets me through. It sucks.” — Patricia

“Bringing my 17-year-old daughter with me when I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, the first time I got to vote for a woman for president. I was so excited and wanted her to share the moment with me, just months before she could legally vote herself.” — Lisa

“In 2016, We were driving back from Nashville, we just celebrated our wedding anniversary. I knew I was going to be out of town during election day, so I requested a mail in absentee ballot. As we were driving home during the morning after Election Day, the picture was very clear the Trump had won, And the certainty I felt for the inevitable Clinton presidency evaporated. I had a lot of time to think on the drive about the immaturity of my decision to not vote. My absentee ballot was sitting on the kitchen table at home, on the day after the election, I thought about how much I dislike Hillary Clinton, I never pictured that Trump would win. I learned a vital lesson that day, but sometimes grown-up decisions weren’t about picking your favorite — It’s also about understanding the consequences of what happens when you choose your favorite verses what happens when choose pragmatism over principle. Please, don’t be like 2016 me — please get out and vote.” — David

“Election Day 1996. It was my first time voting in Minneapolis. My polling place was packed, and it was the November in an artistic/grunge/hip neighborhood. No pastels to be found. Until the man in the white suit breezed his way into the room, gliding past all lines, receiving his ballot and then skipping over all the other voters — well the others that had been waiting in line were puzzled. Who was this person? As he skipped over the remaining people in line, puzzlement turned to frustration. It was then that another voter voiced this frustration, ‘Excuse me sir. Don't you think we all are in a hurry? Or that we all don't have places to go? You, sir are a d***head! And everyone in the room knows you are a d***head!’ End scene.” — Jill

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