Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Nov. 9, and I’m writing from Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is a city with a long-bemoaned lack of central gathering spaces — no Central Park or National Mall or Trafalgar Square, not even a Times Square. There are many nodes of interest, but few obvious symbolic centers for people to pour into in times of mourning or celebration.
But after Joe Biden defeated President Trump, L.A. car culture met collective joy on Saturday afternoon, as honking cars festooned with flags and homemade signs filled major streets in the deep-blue city.
[Read the story: “Fireworks, Champagne and dancing in the streets of L.A. as Biden and Harris win” in the Los Angeles Times]
On Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, people leaned out of sunroofs and passenger side windows, clanging pots and pans, flashing peace signs and raising fists. For block after block, the cars were met by pedestrians dancing in the streets, and clusters of masked individuals gathering for impromptu parties.
At a red light, a driver for a shipping company exited his vehicle and danced all the way around the truck before hopping back in. Two masked women stood on a street corner pouring Champagne into paper cups.
Everyone appeared hungry for connection and communal celebration, with passersby and people in cars screaming and waving at each other.
“I see you!” a sign-holding man yelled, as he pointed at the people cheering from inside a passing car. Nearby, a middle-aged man walked past a gas station holding a sign scrawled with a simple phrase: “There is hope.”
Further east in Silver Lake, Sunset Boulevard resembled a continuous, slow-moving victory parade, as motorists laid on their horns and passengers leaned out of car windows, waving American flags and beating saucepans, tambourines and cowbells.
In a parking lot across the street from the Beverly Center, Evan Pinchuk and his 10-year-old daughter Talia worked to affix a large American flag to the hood of their Audi.
“We want to show America what it means to be great again,” Pinchuk said as he reached for a roll of tape.
More on the presidential election:
- Joe Biden was elected the nation’s 46th president Saturday in a stinging repudiation of Donald J. Trump, a fiercely fought victory that sparked joy and pent-up celebration in a country reeling from economic hardship, the ravages of a deadly pandemic and deep-seated racial and political animosities. Los Angeles Times
- President Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election continued into Sunday, with Democrats urging respect for the vote’s integrity while the president’s staunchest allies defended his unfounded claims of fraud and readied a blitz of lawsuits. Los Angeles Times
- Forget the top of the ticket, some women are even prouder to see Sen. Kamala Harris make history. “Just to be able to see a Black woman, an Indian American, a woman, hold the VP position — it’s been a long time coming.” Los Angeles Times
- A joyous celebration sprung up at the Berkeley house where Harris grew up. People danced, waved streamers and flags, and blew giant bubbles. Los Angeles Times
- Meanwhile, despondent Trump supporters say they can’t accept a Biden-Harris win. So far, courts have rejected GOP efforts to stop the vote counting over unfounded fraud concerns. Los Angeles Times
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