J.B. Pritzker’s DeKalb office at 2446 Sycamore Ave. was full of local Democrats celebrating his gubernatorial win, reacting to the election results as they came and discussing America’s future as the House of Representatives flipped in favor of the Democrats.

The office’s jovial mood can be attributed to not only a massive Democratic victory, but a celebration of a massive voter turnout.

“Polling this morning was a mess,” Democratic county clerk candidate Carolyn Morris said. “We ran out of ballots.”

Morris and county treasurer candidate and NIU alum Liliana Orozco both discussed how the election will affect campus.

“We need somebody who gets student concerns as a student,” Orozco said.

Orozco said a majority of her support comes from NIU students getting out and voting for the first time.

“There was an extraordinarily high turnout,” Ian Pearson, president of the College Democrats said. “The lines were so long that people were getting bussed to different polling places that they were eligible to vote at. At one time, there was a two and a half hour wait to vote. You don’t get that with low turnout.”

Pritzker defeated incumbent Republican Bruce Rauner by campaigning on education reforms, expansion of social services and creating a friendlier environment for small businesses.

“We’re probably going to see education reforms [with Pritzker], whether it’s with student loans or school funding,” Pearson said. “We also have immigration, and NIU has a significant population of undocumented students. The Dream Act is still up in the air, as well.”

The mood soured once it was announced that Ted Cruz defeated Beto O’Rourke in Texas, but quickly turned back once another flood of Democratic house victories were announced.

“Hopefully NIU will see a little more money as money goes back into public education,” John Noyes, a 62 year-old retired teacher from Genoa, said. “We’ve had so many cuts, and I really take that personal. I’d like to see our state getting back to our public education. I know Map grants had been cut. Hopefully we can start funding our scholarship and grant programs to keep students here in Illinois.”

The mood fluctuated as the results rolled in, but the packed Pritzker office showed how important the DeKalb community finds voting and that people are willing to do what they can to help impact change.