Student morale rose across the UC Berkeley campus following historic national victories for Democratic candidates on last week.
Democrats won the majority of seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the Nov. 3 midterm election. As of Wednesday night, California has elected 43 Democratic and two Republican representatives to the House of Representatives and Democrat Xavier Becerra was elected California state governor.
“It was just very hopeful to see that a lot of us are really taking into account how much our vote really does matter in the long run,” first-year student Cara Kim said. “Our votes ultimately do matter and every vote really does count.”
Hundreds of students waited in line at UC Berkeley’s Lower Sproul Plaza on Tuesday night to cast their ballots at Eshelmann Hall’s voting center as students in evening classes monitored election results on their laptops during lectures. Students waited for more than an hour to cast their ballots at the on-campus polling place, according to The Daily Californian.
Tanvi Sure is a UC Berkeley student who also volunteers at the Berkeley YWCA, where a voting center was located across the street from campus. On Tuesday night, the line outside the YWCA extended down the block, with students braving the autumn chill and rain to get a chance to vote.
“On campus, I think a lot of people make an effort to go and vote — like coming into the YWCA to vote,” Sure said. “I’ve seen that happen throughout the last two weeks, where students would come in between classes … And so I think that it was really cool that everyone wanted to be really involved.”
For many students, this was their first time voting in a federal election. Several first-time voters expressed excitement that their first voting experience resulted in an outcome they were hoping for.
“Just having this be my first election, it was just definitely a great way to start my politically, civically engaged career,” Kim said.
Students also expressed that they think UC Berkeley will benefit from the results of the midterm elections. Several hope UC Berkeley will be subjected to less federal scrutiny going forward.
In September, the Department of Justice alleged that the UC Berkeley Law School’s admissions practices were discriminatory towards white and Asian applicants, favoring candidates from other ethnic backgrounds. Later that month, a State Department official took to social media and threatened to deport students who participated in a gathering commemorating the death of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk.
It almost restores my faith in democracy knowing that people can see what’s going on around them and feel that certain issues are important …
Tanvi Sure, UC Berkeley student
First-year student and first-time voter Dhruv Doshi hopes for more “cooperation” between the university and the federal government. “The current administration’s … attacks on campus, like the Department of Justice (suing) the law school over race and admissions, (and) the Department of State threatening Berkeley students following Charlie Kirk’s death anniversary — I think we’ll just see a lot less of those attacks and hopefully more cooperation between Berkeley and the federal government.”
Students also said they hope that the decisive victory for the Democratic Party will combat prior federal funding cuts to the university.
In April, the National Science Foundation cut $21 million in research grants to UC Berkeley-affiliated projects. In September 2025, the federal government slashed roughly $3.5 million in Title VI funding for the academic year, which predominantly funds language and international studies institutes on campus.
“Hopefully we see less ignorance of school funding and school care,” student Alice Olson said. “To think that this election could kind of counteract that, I’m definitely hopeful.”
However, some students expressed dismay over failures to pass California propositions. Proposition 40, known as the “billionaire tax,” which would have introduced a one-time tax on billionaires based on their wealth, ultimately did not pass.
“There was a lot up against it, so I kind of see why it didn’t pass, but I just think that it really should have,” third-year student Win Neubarth said. “I think, maybe in the future, something like that could happen.”
Still, optimism in the process was the overarching emotion, as students maintained UC Berkeley’s legacy as a civically active campus this election cycle.
“It almost restores my faith in democracy knowing that people can see what’s going on around them and feel that certain issues are important … and can maybe even switch their party lines and vote for different people outside their own party because they believe in what they’re doing,” Sure said.
Ava Volman is a third-year UC Berkeley student majoring in English and global studies and a member of the EdSource California Student Journalism Corps.
This story originally appeared in EdSource.
