Election Night Quotes

John F. Kennedy went to bed at 3:30 in the morning on November 9, 1960, uncertain whether he had defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency. He thought he had won, but six states hung in the balance, and after months of exhaustive campaigning, he was too tired to stay awake any longer.

It was amazing to see Donald Trump on the night before election, who had been describing Hillary Clinton as crooked and corrupt, in a matter of a moment, was describing her as a fine and dedicated public servant, once he had won the election. So, there was a kind of barbarism all the way around, I think, in this political campaign, in which the issues really were boiled down to very small sound bites.

I feel like giving myself a pat on the back. We can create history tonight. We can bid goodbye to 10 years of (Liberal-Conservative) government which has ground to a halt, and get a new government and a new majority in Denmark.

I knew that my staying up would not change the election result if I were defeated, while if elected I had a hard day ahead of me. So I thought a night's rest was best in any event.

And on election night I'd go down to city hall in El Paso, Texas and cover the election. In those days, of course, we didn't have exit polls. You didn't know who had won the election until they actually counted the votes. I thought that was exciting too.

In the past, the biggest mistake I've made has been trying to treat election night like the first and last time anyone will ever see me on TV. I've worn dresses that were more prom time than primetime.

On election night 2000, I had never met then-Governor Bush, though I'd supported him for years. I believed he would be a strong, optimistic and gracious president with solid conservative principles and a big heart.

I never spoke about politics, with the exception of Election Night.

And that was always our plan. Do well in the first three states, and then compete and have a very strong night on Super Tuesday. I think we're ideally positioned to do exactly that.

Josh: So, Toby, it’s election night. What do you say about a country that goes out of its way to protect even those citizens that try to destroy it? Toby: God bless America.

We had a big party that night and everybody went around gathering results from various precincts and each person would get four or five precincts and then come to the house. There were no cell phones or anything to get results phoned in early.

I learned more about elections on election night 2000 than I ever did during my 16 years of schooling.

Election night is the easiest time to act like a grownup.

Really, an historic night last night. You may have heard, Barack Obama will be the first black president of the United States of America. ... Obama is also the first Democrat to receive more than 50 percent of the vote since Jimmy Carter, the first senator to be elected since Jack Kennedy, the first Muslim to be ... I said too much.

We may see Michael Jackson's baby before we know the final outcome of this race for the House of Representatives tonight.

The polling data in 1980 had Jimmy Carter nine points, winning by nine points, four or five days out. I will never forget that election night. In 1980 it was so bad for the Democrats - they got skunked so bad - Jimmy Carter conceded before 10 p.m. Eastern time.

Being in Harlem on the night of Barack Obama's election was extraordinary. It was the best street party I have ever gone to, and it felt like the period of American history which began with slavery had ended that evening.

It was a presidential election year, and as a member of a consortium of Ivy League radio stations, we participated in 'network' coverage of election night.

As everyone knows, Voter News Service, a consortium with a good track record, gave out bad numbers that night. In the closest race in history the wheels apparently came off a rattle trap computer system which we relied on and paid millions for. Through our self-examination and investigation we have determined that there was no intentional political favoritism in play on election night on the part of Fox News.

You always want to have a mix of conservatives and liberals on a panel, especially on election night.

Forgot to live-tweet the election last night, so I'm post-tweeting today. I'll start as soon as my fingers unclench from their rage fists.

If they can get 15 or higher, it will be a very bad night for House Speaker Paul Ryan. Ryan twisted himself into a pretzel by endorsing but not always supporting Donald Trump. Now, he's facing the prospect of a slimmer majority, with fewer moderates. Conservative members in the Freedom Caucus have already sent warning shots threatening Ryan's tenure as speaker.