Prediction market Kalshi and a celebrity duck stole the show at Washington's election night watch parties, while Republicans ended the evening at what felt like a funeral, according to the Washington Examiner.
The night started upbeat at the University Club, where conservative radio host John Fredericks broadcast from a Republican watch party stocked with sliders and pizza. "What you are going to see tonight is a red wave of Republican voters who are rejecting communism," Fredericks predicted early in the evening.
Across town at Solly's, Democrats crowded into a party for D.C. Council candidate Oye Owolewa and Pro-Animal DC, the group behind Initiative 86 to ban foie gras. A live duck named Olivia greeted guests on the sidewalk and later took the stage to "announce" the measure's victory with a few quacks into the microphone.
Initiative 86 passed with about 73% of the vote, and Owolewa won his at-large council seat. The foie gras ban is set to take effect July 1, 2027, though the city still has to fund enforcement and a court challenge is expected.
Kalshi co-hosted parties with Axios and with Decision Desk HQ, and its traders called races well ahead of traditional outlets. The market called Texas for Democrat James Talarico about an hour and a half before the Associated Press, and odds of Democratic Senate control hit 99% by 9:02 p.m.
At the Decision Desk HQ party, a Kalshi call for Democrat Annie Andrews in South Carolina's Senate race drew audible gasps. Political commentator Chris Cillizza told the crowd the wave was looking medium-to-large, "with the possibility of it being huge."
By 10:30 p.m., the mood at the University Club had collapsed and a line of Ubers was carrying guests home. One close Trump ally blamed "a public execution, the mess with the press secretary, all the stuff with the reflecting pool," adding, "It feels like people were voting to end the chaos."
Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz instead blamed the candidates. "Tbh most Republican candidates this cycle were uninspiring, lazy, and thoroughly ineffective communicators," he posted.
Pollsters, meanwhile, had a decent night. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers by about 7 points, landing between the final New York Times-Siena and Zogby polls.
Login