Erin Ellerbrock | Lindenlink Contributor

Republicans gathered at The Columns Banquet Center in St. Charles this Tuesday in hopes of a presidential win.  The Columns was busy as voters and volunteers from the St. Charles area watched the big screen to keep tabs on the election. Local elections results were looked up on over 15 laptops to track progress and update facebook pages.

“We’ve been here all day,” said election volunteer Tom Blattau. “I’ve worked plenty of elections and this is the most people I’ve seen come out to vote by far, it should make for a good run.”

Many people came straight to The Columns after volunteering at Republican Headquarters. “We’ve been working since late last night,” said Republican Headquarters volunteer Mandi Wright. “We made calls from 9am until 9pm and then woke up today and worked the polls.”

After long days of volunteering, the watch party was a welcome refuge offering a dinner buffet, open bar and dessert bar. “It’s nice to come here, relax have some food and a drink and await the results.” said Mark Buesse, Republican Headquarters volunteer. “I can’t say it makes me less nervous, but it definitely takes the edge off.”

Cheers filled the room as states were won for Romney but towards the end of the night the crowd began to thin. “It’s disappointing for everyone to have experienced so much loss tonight. Republicans are resilient, we’ll keep fighting on,” said Missouri State Representative Ann Zerr. “We’re allowed to mourn a bit then pick up tomorrow and carry on.”

Volunteers who gave up so much of their time for the Republican cause say it was still time well spent. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” said Republican Headquarters volunteer Linda Taylor. “Even though we lost, it wasn’t a waste of time I really believe that.”

As the election watch came to an end volunteers packed up laptops and phones, but they’re far from giving up. “We still have a house majority and we’ve made gains in the senate,” said Blattau. “This is far from over.”