While D.C. residents endured rain and sometimes hours-long lines to vote in their local elections, the returns that had many of them constantly refreshing their Twitter timelines weren’t those of their District councilmember or ANC commissioner. They wanted to know who won the races happening across the country.

Inside the crimson-walled room at Red Derby in Columbia Heights, the mood was decidedly blue. Patrons sported “The Future is Female” t-shirts and even neon turquoise lipstick. They huddled around the short diner tables, alternating their gaze between smartphones and a projection screen showing CNN. Upstairs, crowds and the smell of tobacco filled the narrow bar as each poll provoked another nervous drag of a cigarette. John King’s voice buzzed over the bar in a nasal hum, punctuated by the sounds of Democrat distress.

D.C. resident Chang Won Chang sat at the table closest to the projection screen upstairs. His arms flew up in the air, clasped at his mouth and tightened with glee, as King swiped through the latest poll for the Tennessee Senate race between Republican Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Phil Bredesen. Like other Democrats in D.C., Chang was following the tightest races of the night, including Beto O’Rourke’s run for Texas’ Senate seat and Jennifer Wexton’s bid for Virginia’s 10th Congressional district.

“I’m still a little bit tense, but I’m hoping it goes really well for the Democrats tonight,” he said. “When I woke up this morning I didn’t think we were going to get the Senate but maybe we can, so I don’t know. Maybe I’m being hopeful again.”

Other liberals at watch parties across the District approached the night with that same spirit of cautious optimism. Like the torrential downpours that hit D.C. on Tuesday morning, the shock of 2016 put a damper on what would have been more abundant hope for the Democrats in the midterm elections. Despite a fiery ground game from Democrat Stacey Abrams in the Georgia gubernatorial race and the Obama-like charm of O’Rourke, liberals measured their expectations on election night.

“After that sad day last year, I’m a little bit more mentally and emotionally prepared for disappointment,” said Jessica Hall, a D.C. resident who says she has spent the past year protesting every other weekend. “I don’t have trust in the system but I’m going to try to participate nonetheless to try to make change.”

If Democrats knew going into Tuesday night that they couldn’t lock down certain races, they didn’t look defeated. Outside Reliable Tavern, a line stretched two doors down from the Petworth bar for a Beto party. Over 100 supporters squeezed inside the bar, and queso and tortilla chips greeted patrons at the door.

Paloma Perez left her conservative-leaning home of Dripping Springs, Texas, to move to D.C. when she felt her state would never reflect her values. Eight years later, she found herself at a Reliable Tavern supporting a Democratic candidate for Texas senator.

“I am finally seeing, for the first time, a candidate who reflects sincerity, humility, compassion,” she said. “It goes to show you that people are attracted to bold ideas, not being scared to say what you actually mean, and frankly that grassroots organizing is the backbone of the Democratic party.”

When asked about her outlook that night for O’Rourke and other progressive candidates, Perez repeated a similar refrain: “cautiously optimistic.” Her fellow Beto supporter, native Western New Yorker Jamie Gardner, was more blunt.

“Beto’s gonna lose,” said Gardner, who phonebanked for O’Rourke. “This is just how the process works—you do your best to improve voter turnout and to keep everybody informed.”

Just before 11 p.m., Republicans had all but clinched the Senate while Democrats were chipping away to gain a House victory. By that time, the crowd at the Blue Wave watch party at Local 16’s rooftop was ebbing more than flowing. Ivana Wong and Rosanna Tavarez, the director of Rise District and one of the party’s co-hosts, sat at the bar throughout the night watching the results roll in. They broke with their own blue theme with one crucial stress-reliever: a glass of red wine.

“I really wanted there to be [a blue wave] in both, but I was cautious in the Senate,” Tavarez said, adding that 2016 left its mark on the party. “I think we’re still a little scarred.”

Wong interrupted to let out a scream. CNN announced Republican Ron DeSantis had defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum in the tough Florida governor’s race.

“Can I get some shots?” Wong asked the bartender.

Seconds later, the network declared Democrats had taken control of the House. The bar erupted in whoops and clinking glasses. The bartender returned with a shotski in hand. It was unclear whether the drinks were celebrating a close victory or dulling the pain of defeat.

With the lofty goal of taking back Congress, Democrats managed to wrestle the House from Republican control while the GOP maintained the Senate. But if the Democrats measured their glee earlier in the night, many of the observers allowed themselves to enjoy some of the rewards that would come with taking the House.

“The good thing about that is they’ll have all the subpoena power,” said Brian Melrose, who stood in front of a Wexton poster and a cluster of deflating blue balloons at the party.

Sharita Gruberg and Shabab Mirza did not moderate their victory dance. Both work at the Center for American Progress and shouted over Massachusetts voters’ decision to uphold nondiscrimination protections for transgender people.

“I am queer and I am Muslim and we have so many out and open women in Congress,” Gruberg said as she embraced her friend. “People are good. There’s goodness in the world. It’s a sliver of hope that we desperately needed.”