Lower Valley residents celebrate Biden's victory with a spontaneous party in Fox Chapel's McCahill Park

There was dancing and flag-waving in Fox Chapel’s McCahill Park on Nov. 7 as dozens of residents gathered to celebrate Democrat Joe Biden’s victory to become the 46^th U.S. President.

It was one of countless spontaneous block parties that broke out across the region, from Squirrel Hill to the South Side, and further across the country, where car horns honked, people danced and took to the streets to celebrate Biden’s win over President Trump.

Pennsylvania was called for Biden by The Associated Press at about 11:30 a.m. that day, securing his ticket’s win with running mate Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

In Allegheny County, Biden won about 415,700 votes to Trump’s 274,000.

“Biden won every precinct in Fox Chapel. That’s huge,” said Fox Chapel councilwoman Mandy Steele.

Steele said the traditionally conservative borough is experiencing a shift and provided much help in Biden rebuilding the “blue wall” that amassed the lead that led to his victory.

“People want to believe there was this gigantic single factor, but it’s the opposite. It is lots of small marginal shifts that, in all likelihood, gave (Biden) a victory in Pennsylvania,” said Chris Borick, a political science professor and pollster at Muhlenberg College.

Political observers credited much of that increase to suburban women, whom Trump conceded were his Achilles’ heel in this race.

Stasia Vernallis, a retired lawyer from O’Hara, was among those at the center of the effort with Progress PA. She said small Facebook groups that grew out of the 2017 Women’s March cropped up across the state, learned the ins and outs of grassroots organizing, and networked on behalf of the Biden campaign.

In many communities, they operated largely beneath the radar of the organized Democratic Party apparatus, raising funds, knocking on doors, running phone banks, underwriting billboards and ensuring there were Biden yard signs everywhere to let supporters know they were not alone.

Steele said the local involvement is exciting.

“When I talk about Fox Chapel being able to lead on big issues, I mean it,” she said. “We have the resources and the community to make it happen.”

Fox Chapel followed the way of Allegheny County, which had a 74% voter turnout. In the borough, four of the five districts saw voter turnout at 80% or higher, according to the Allegheny County Elections Department.