Hillsborough Republicans hope Trump's Florida win translates to overall outcome

BRANDON, Fla - The Hillsborough County Republican Party met for an election night watch party Tuesday, supporting their local candidates but mainly hoping to cheer President Trump on to a second victory.

The night kicked off with high energy, confidence and a lot of hope. Republicans there were pleased with how things have gone the last four years and ready for four more with President Trump.

That confidence remained high late into the evening as they watched states on the map light up in red.

Inside The LOFT Event Venue in Brandon was a sea of red shirts, dresses and those signature red "Make America Great Again" hats. These were folks who've spent months planting campaign signs all around the county, working to drum up support for a second term for President Trump, and some volunteered as poll watchers.

"It's a little bit of anxiousness but at the same time, we are excited either way because we know we've done everything we could in our capacity and I hope all Americans have done everything they could for whoever they are excited about," said Stacy Feiler, who attended the watch party.

Though democrats outvoted republicans in Hillsborough County, the group kept their focus on the big picture - the swing states and the individual wins throughout Florida, including in heavily Democratic Miami-Dade. President Trump got 334,000 votes there in 2016.

In 2020, he overperformed with 529,000.

"The President winning will energize people to get ready to start working and as my Secretary Jeanne Webb said, we start the 2022 campaign tomorrow," said Jim Waurishuk, Chairman of the Hillsborough County Republican Party.

"As a military veteran, what he has done for rebuilding our military, what he has done for veterans, ensuring veterans get the kind of help they need, lowering taxes, we need to keep that trend going," Waurishuk said.