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From hope to despair at Clinton election night party

Hillary Clinton and her supporters went into election night feeling hopeful, confident even. A vast majority of pollsters, polling aggregates, and political pundits had the former secretary of state with a steady national lead throughout the campaign and a robust variety of possible paths to victory on the electoral map.

Yet as Clinton’s campaign staff, celebrity pitchpeople, and supporters rallied together at the Javits Center in New York City Tuesday night, which appropriately has a glass ceiling, all predictions quickly went out the window, and Trump’s oft-speculated “hidden voters” turned out en masse. By 11 p.m., Trump’s surge started to solidify and Clinton’s imminent defeat started to sink in.

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VICE News’ Cassandra Giraldo was at the Clinton campaign’s celebration party and documented the scene as it transformed from optimism to despair.

Hillary Clinton supporters packed the Javits Center to watch the election results and celebrate what they hoped would be a victory for their candidate.

The crowd started the night anxious but excited.

Excitement slowly transformed to anxiety as Clinton supporters waited for hotly contested swing state results to trickle in.

Hillary Clinton supporters began to break down as they waited anxiously for election results to turn toward Clinton.

Clinton supporters appeared to be caught off guard as they settled in for a long, uncertain election night.

Worry slowly turned to quiet despair as election results turned toward Trump.

Hope inside the Javits Center dissipated near the end of the night as Trump’s victory appeared imminent.