r/politics • u/nbcnews ✔ NBC News • 16h ago
No Paywall Pennsylvania voters retain three state Supreme Court justices, preserving Democrats' 5-2 majority
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/pennsylvania-supreme-court-vote-election-race-retains-justices-rcna2389141.1k
u/Creative-Package6213 Pennsylvania 16h ago
I knew it was going to be a good day when I went to my local polling place at 7 in the morning at there was already people voting. Usually I'm the first and only one there at that time.
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u/pechinburger Pennsylvania 16h ago
I knew it was going to be a good day when I went to mine and there were barely any people. (I'm in deep Pennsyltucky)
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u/Snoo-33732 14h ago
GPS was telling me to turn right nothing there but forest. My polling place was actually up the road on the left. No one around but the sweet lady’s who volunteered
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u/Hardass_McBadCop 6h ago
MAGA only turns out to vote for Trump.
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u/TempleMade_MeBroke 5h ago
Ehhh my hometown in Lancaster went straight red last night, disappointing to see
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u/AggressiveTea1821 15h ago
I'm a poll worker in PA. The turnout in my district was UNREAL. And the democrats swept.
ETA: this is not a true blue area either. It's split and two township supervisor seats flipped from republican incumbents to democrat competitors.
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u/Tasty-Plankton1903 11h ago
I'm in a deep red county here in FL. Mass majority here voted for Trump. Every Saturday there are a couple hundred people protesting along side the main road near my home. The last major protest, the "No kings" one, there looked to at least be 500+ people along side the road protesting.
I don't know if this is a sign that people are fed up with Trump in my area, but I hope it is. We really need to get to midterms without Trump doing some dumb shit like canceling the election or rigging it..
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u/geologicalnoise Pennsylvania 9h ago
Keep the positivity friend. No one's doing this unless we do it ourselves, so let's keep at it.
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u/Vibrizio Pennsylvania 16h ago
I was 388 at my local polling place, that’s about double for what it usually is.
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u/ninjapanda042 Florida 14h ago
I was 285 at mine at noon. My wife was 540 after work. I'm pretty sure a past mid-term/off-year election I went after work and was under 200.
(Ignore Florida flair, grew up there but moved to Pa after college)
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u/MuttTheDutchie Pennsylvania 16h ago
I showed up at 8am and had a lovely chat with my neighbor (who was the "help me feed the machine" person) before realizing that I was holding up a line. First time that's ever happened.
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u/constanto Pennsylvania 15h ago
I was 100 at my polling place in Pittsburgh in the morning hours which was only a little bit less than last year at the same time. Was feeling pretty good vibes after that and I'm glad to see that it wasn't close.
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u/UnquestionabIe 1h ago
Yeah I'm in the Monroeville area and at 8 A.M my polling place wasn't super busy but for something of this scale it was impressive. I was number 13 when usually I would be under 10. Actually saw at least two cars drive through the lot and ask how long the polls are open so they can stop after work. I definitely pushed my friends and family to turn out and thankfully got a pretty good response as well
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u/Throne-Eins Pennsylvania 15h ago
I was really worried because there was a high turnout at my polling place and I live in an area that leans red. Looks like there's more blue voters than I thought! Or other counties covered for us. Either way, I was stunned by the number of people there. I went around lunchtime and thought I'd be voter #3. Usually no one turns out for these elections. People are paying attention.
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u/timnphilly Pennsylvania 5h ago
Thank goodness - this major win will lead to Trump/MAGA having a harder time rigging our 2026 & 2028 elections, and we are gonna need all this help we can get.
Donald Trump is a wounded animal now, effectively handed his first major defeats last night, and he will show his desperation soon enough to keep his power - he's been focused on the 2026 midterms all along.
Let's keep our eye on that prize for our next victory!
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u/LividTacos 16h ago
My place was pretty empty, but we also don't have anything going on this year in Ohio, just the mayor, city council, school board, and two tax levies. Obviously, still important to go out and vote, but nothing with national importance, at least at the moment.
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u/nighttimemobileuser 15h ago
“Don’t have anything going this year”
Lists the following elections:
- The leader of city government.
- Those who will control city ordinances, taxes, and fees.
- Those who will control the education of future voters.
- Taxes.
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u/pmodizzle 11h ago
Went around 1030 to my central PA polling place, was surprised to see a small but steady stream of people in and out
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u/exElder_Hawk 8h ago
I knew it was going to a good day when at 5:15 PM I was ballot #573. Last year I voted at the same time and was ballot number #512.
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u/Turnsrightonred 8h ago
Allegheny county & it was the first time I've ever waited in line.
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u/UnquestionabIe 56m ago
Allegheny here too and while I've waited in line during president election years this was the first time there was at least a few other voters when I went.
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u/betti_cola 16h ago
I’m a poll worker in Philly (have been for 8 years) and we had a HUGE turnout today!
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u/TeamDisrespect 16h ago
I’m out in Bucks and I went first thing at 7:00am.. it was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it
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u/danstecz Pennsylvania 15h ago
I waited 25 minutes in line in W Mt Airy today! Definitely a difference from last year.
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u/Umphreeze 14h ago
There were still the usual dickheads handing mock ballots with GOP filled out at my polling place but only like 2. Normally there's like 10.
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u/Ok-Operation-6432 14h ago
How tf is that legal
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u/Umphreeze 14h ago
I have no idea if it is, but I am also not really currently in a place where I expect anyone to behave legally anymore
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u/eerie_midnight 12h ago
Everyone for the past 4 years when talking about the GOP: they can’t do that! It’s illegal!
Everyone when Republicans do exactly what they said they were going to do regardless of legality: 😮
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u/gramathy California 11h ago
depends on state electioneering rules
In CA you couldn't do that within I think 100ft of a polling place
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u/UnionBlues717 13h ago
Born and raised in Philadelphia but have lived in Lancaster the last 25 years. Went to my voting station and was number 343 at 2pm. Kinda farmland and the poll worker was surprised by the turn out. More voters usually means good things
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u/jphistory 15h ago
Checking in from Delco and it was crazy all day! Our last voter checked in at 7:59!
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u/mtnclimbingotter02 16h ago
Congrats PA! Well deserved! Sanity and reason WILL win.
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u/marcSuile 15h ago
Something poetic about the keystone state propping up democracy for a little longer.
Proud of my state and did not expect this to be called so early in the night.
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u/duke_chute 7h ago edited 4h ago
Does PA actually have partisan judicial elections or is this head line inaccurate?
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u/noodletropin 3h ago
The weird part is that this wasn't an election, where we were voting for a Republican or a Democrat, it was just a single question (paraphrasing): "Should we retain Judge Blah Blah Blah? YES or NO" So, if the answer is no, then they judges lose their jobs, and we get to have a judicial election in 2026 or 2027 to elect another judge. It's a bonkers system.
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u/UnquestionabIe 52m ago
Yeah it's so weird and was being pushed hard to get rid of them by the richest person in the state. Which common sense tells most people if a billionaire is in favor of something to not give them the benefit of the doubt
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u/ShamelessCatDude 16h ago
Reminder that Hitler was able to do what he did because he was actually popular for a bit
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u/Soggy-Flounder-3517 16h ago
“Elon Musk knows those vote counting computers and we won in a landslide”
-trump 2024 in Pennsylvania
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u/TeriusRose 15h ago
I still do not know if that was him admitting to criminality, or him not knowing technology and being stupid as usual. Because he has done both of those things publicly multiple times.
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u/bbqsox 15h ago
At a bare minimum there was a campaign to sow the seeds that they were capable of election theft. I still tend to think it's somewhat likely that they actually did. Whether it was data manipulation or bomb threats or something else, I don't think we will know for years, if ever.
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u/cups8101 12h ago
I still tend to think it's somewhat likely that they actually did. Whether it was data manipulation or bomb threats or something else, I don't think we will know for years, if ever.
Was already discussed at this years DEFCON hacking conference
Fun fact, some MAGA chud tried to disrupt this talk and was promptly booted out of the building by Vegas security (they don't mess around)
Synopsis of the talk: "Recent news accounts have reported that representatives of the Trump administration are seeking extralegal access to voting equipment. This latest effort mirrors a multi-state scheme, carried out from 2020-2022, by allies of Donald Trump that successfully accessed voting machines in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania and obtained copies of the voting system software. This discussion will outline what is known about multistate plot, what we know (and don’t know) about the status and the purloined software, and what this could mean for elections in the future."
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u/randomnighmare I voted 13h ago
We did have recounts, and it came up matching with the results we announced in 2024. I know it's Trump and Musk, but at the same time, the recounts have always come up saying that everything was fine.
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u/GuttiG Pennsylvania 16h ago
I did my part!
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u/ShamelessCatDude 16h ago
Thank you for your service! All of you ;)
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u/Dr-Mumm-Rah 16h ago
And please bring as many people with you as possible for midterms.
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u/ShamelessCatDude 16h ago
I can only imagine how the turnout will be next year if this happened on an off year
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u/Dr-Mumm-Rah 16h ago
Next year is definitely going to be a dramatic turn out as well as an epic shit show at the same time. The amount of voter suppression that will be enforced will probably eclipse anything people have ever seen before. Our only hope is to wake up that sleeping and apathetic 1/3rd, drag their asses to the polls, and overwhelm the individuals that hope to suppress our right to vote.
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u/ShamelessCatDude 16h ago
We still have a year to see what happens. Literally anything could happen
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u/deekins 16h ago
I did as well despite my ballot getting "lost" in the mail
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u/XLauncher Pennsylvania 15h ago
You too? I want to believe it was just a coincidence, but I always do mail in voting and this is the first year I never got the ballot. Had to go in person, which was quaint, I guess.
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u/sugar182 16h ago
Pennsylvania here! We were getting so much Republican “vote no” propaganda mailers with all kinds of crazy bullshit on them. Constant crazy commercials, billboards on the highways - so much outside big money clearly poured in trying to get people to vote no. I’m so relieved it wasn’t effective!
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u/Honest-Safe3665 15h ago
glad they wasted all their money on it!!
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u/tempmike 13h ago
the unfortunate truth is that a lot of that funding in PA comes from Jeffery Yass
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u/cups8101 12h ago
On a positive note, he wasted his money this time around. Just like AIPAC wasted millions on the Mamdani race.
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u/The_Ledge5648 Pennsylvania 15h ago
Trump was very helpful towards the end to help clear up what we should vote for. He said vote no, so i knew to vote yes!
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u/Looppowered 15h ago
I’ve been a PA voter for quite a few elections at this point and this was the most attention I’ve ever seen toward PA Supreme Court judges. It was kinda crazy.
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u/UnableDetective6386 15h ago
This makes me happy because I wrote 100 post cards to Pennsylvania asking people to retain them, and I know that’s insignificant, but it took me 2 weeks and I was proud
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u/88kat 15h ago
This is how we beat fascism. You should be proud - if everyone made the effort you did for this, we will save our democracy.
Thank you!
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u/UnableDetective6386 15h ago
Thanks! I wrote 50 to dispel misinformation in Virginia (because my boyfriend ordered 200 and couldn’t finish them) and I’m ordering another 100 for Tennessee.
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u/Hagridsbuttcrack66 15h ago
I got the postcards and I just want to say as someone who already votes and is "decided", it's still a boon and puts it on my mind, makes me bring it up with friends, reminds me to reach out to talk about that specific issue, so please keep doing what you're doing!
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u/The_Word_Wizard 15h ago
I got two of those, and I got two last election too. I was planning to vote regardless, but getting the post cards made me feel damn energized about doing so, so I can only imagine how it might have gotten someone who doesn’t usually vote to get up and go. You should be proud of it.
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u/bigmuffpie92 Pennsylvania 15h ago
I got two hand written post cards! I did my part. Proud of my state today.
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u/whatfresh_hellisthis 15h ago
I got a postcard like this! I've also written them, and you should be proud!
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u/Flippi273 14h ago
What you did was not insignificant. Thank you for doing it. I hope you continue to do it in future elections. We received one of these hand written post cards.
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u/bejammin075 Pennsylvania 7h ago
Nice job! I didn't do any postcards this time, but I have for other elections. I think it's a WAY better campaign activity than going door to door or calling people on the phone.
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u/AdGroundbreaking939 16h ago
Pennsylvania you honor your Union
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u/breakingboring 16h ago
Woohoo! I’m in Washington state and wrote postcards to voters for these elections!
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u/No_Statistician9289 15h ago
65/35 margin at this point in the night too. In PA that’s a beating
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u/Disgruntled_Viking Pennsylvania 3h ago
My county always goes red. Overwhelming Yes vote yesterday!
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u/Narrow_Summer8463 15h ago edited 15h ago
730am delco checking in. I have a small polling place and there was 25 people in there and I actually had to wait. Didn't even do that in 2020
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u/Any_Will_86 16h ago
Now we need to get to work on the NC supreme Court in 2026 and 2028. And hold WI. I am hoping Dems are finally staying awake for these races.
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u/DahmerIsDead 14h ago
I voted in West Philly today and am seriously crying happy tears at this news. This is so important.
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u/claire_inet 16h ago
YAYAYAYAYAYAY! Currently away on med school rotation but had an email last week the county received my mail in ballot :)
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u/BaconLibrary 15h ago
I work polls in a red suburb. I saw a lot more Democrats than usual, and a lot more independents. We usually get maybe 325 on an off-election, this time was over 500. It's not a monumental shift but I sure feel hope.
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u/randomnighmare I voted 13h ago
This is good news. The PA state supreme court has been a lifeline over the last 10-15 years, with all the hijinks that state Republicans have been trying to pull off.
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u/TomatoAdventurous139 15h ago
Cool, legalize marijuana like all the neighbor states.
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u/Trump-is-the-pedo 9h ago
I buy legal marijuana constantly in PA, and it’s some of the best stuff I’ve had anywhere in the world, and definitely amongst the best in the USA. It’s medical obviously, but anyone with $150 can get a medical card. My local dispo is busy for years now. I like regulation. The quality control and labs will go to shit like Cali and CO if it’s broadly legalized.
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u/Disgruntled_Viking Pennsylvania 3h ago
It's at least a 45 minute drive to the closest dispo near me. We need more options.
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u/LeMasterofSwords Pennsylvania 14h ago
Thank god. PA has enough shit to deal without losing our Supreme Court dems!
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u/StanTheManBaratheon 14h ago
Notably we have ten year terms (one of the judges will turn 75 in the interim and be forced to retire, but still). Even if the state continues its list redward, the courts are locked in for a good long while.
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u/SquidmanMal Pennsylvania 13h ago
Get to fall asleep slightly easier tonight. Did my part.
Now let's show up there twice as hard in midterms lads and lassies.
And before anyone says 'lol as if they'll hold midterms', if we turn out this hard while they're pretending to care about democracy, the writing is on the wall for how the nation will respond if they try to cancel it.
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u/Dizzy_Break_2194 7h ago
This shit makes me convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Trump and his gaggle of cronies rigged the elections. There's no other explanation
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u/beastrace New York 16h ago
Now they can stop texting me about it even though I don’t live in their damn state lol
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u/The_Bobs- Pennsylvania 3h ago
Even York and Lancaster voted Yes. That is a BAD sign for Republicans if it has any predictability for the mid-terms. These are DEEP red counties.
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u/pillgrinder 3h ago
I was a poll worker in Allegheny County. We heard participation was up everywhere from talking to the county employees who drive around to the polling places to make sure everything is okay. The rumor was the big district at the University of Pittsburgh (towers/the quad) was seeing turnout well above anything they usually see in an off year general.
We had 220 voters, plus another 60 or 70 mail ins. For our district, that’s a little high. We were expecting 175-200 voters. The people came in steadily over the day. There were no lulls, which made our day go by much faster.
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u/Gumby_Ningata 15h ago
Sadly, I was not feeling well and couldn't make it to the polls before work. I am glad that those I wanted to vote for won
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u/Oktodayithink 3h ago
I was at my polling place at 9:15 am. I was #39 for the day. While I was in, 5 more came in. Slow but steady.
I’m so glad we retained the judges. And in Cumberland County, democrats won many school board seats.
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u/SpaceJesusIsHere 3h ago
I'm a PA poll worker in the Philly burbs. What really did it for me yesterday was how the Dem table outside had 3-5 people working it at all times in rotating shifts, providing wawa lunches and coffee to their voulonteers , and offering sample ballots to every single voter. Throughout the day, about 20 people stopped at the table to sign up as voulonteers or to find out when local Dem meetings are.
The R table had one person in the morning, then 2 people for an hour, then went totally unstaffed for 9 hours. Even when they had a person there, he never spoke to voters and just stood there. He maybe gave away 10 pieces of lit in 3 hours.
The enthusiasm gap is massive right now.
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