Crowds Take To San Francisco Bay Area Streets To Celebrate Biden-Harris Victory
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/AP) -- Crowds streamed into the streets of San Francisco and Oakland Saturday to celebrate the victory of former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris in the contentious 2020 presidential election.
In Oakland where Vice President-elect Harris was born, people expressed hometown pride in her history-making turn as the first Black woman elected to the second-highest office in the United States.
Revelers popped Champagne bottles and danced by Oakland's Lake Merritt as drivers passed by honking horns and blasting music from their cars. In San Francisco's Castro district, people crowded the sidewalk, waving flags and clanging pots.
"This is a historic day. We've been waiting for this change for four years and we just wanted to come out and celebrate with our fellow citizens," said Brandon Bergmark as he strolled along Lake Merritt with his wife and two kids.
Local leaders sang the praises of Harris, who has deep ties to the Bay Area. The 56-year-old California senator was born in Oakland, raised in Berkeley, and began her political career as San Francisco's district attorney.
"The pride I feel as a Black woman is hard to put into words," San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
"Daughter of Oakland. You have made us so proud -- so many tears of joy flowing in the Town right now," Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf tweeted about Harris.
Berkeley's mayor, Jesse Arreguin, noted that the first woman elected vice president of the U.S. is Black and of South Asian descent, reflecting the liberal city's diversity and progressive values.
"She has broken down monumental barriers and Berkeley could not be more proud," he said.
A dance party broke out in front of her childhood home on Berkeley's Bancroft Way.
Similar scenes played out in San Francisco, where the celebration in the Castro district spilled form the sidewalk into the street as hundreds danced to the disco hit "We Are Family." Crowds cheered outside City Hall and the Ferry Building along the city's waterfront.
STREET CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE BAY
On the corner of a 18th St. and Dolores St in San Francisco Mission District, a crowd danced and sang.
The same was true in San Francisco's Castro District.
In many neighborhoods cheers could heard echoing off buildings.
Across the bay, the area outside Oakland's Grand Lake Theater was filled with supporters waving Biden/Harris signs and the theater marquee read, "This is America we must count every vote."
"I'm feeling very good," said Molly Glocker, one of the people who gathered outside Grand Lake Theater. "This means a better future for my two daughters."
Cheryl Davis of Piedmont said she came to the theater to celebrate and with a sense of relief.
"I don't have to be depressed for the next four years because of the evil perpetrated by a venal president."
© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report
