Supporters assemble at Park Plaza Hotel for Senator Scott Brown

By Amy Hansen — 11/06/12  

Energy has been running high at Republican Senator Scott Brown’s election night event.

Several hundred people mingled in front of four televisions tuned to the latest news coverage. They ate patriotic-themed cupcakes in the ballroom of Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel to await the results of Brown’s Senate contest against challenger Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

Melrose resident Matt Schnell watched election results flash across a big-screen TV.

Politics is nothing new for Schnell who remembers shivering in the cold with his father in Jamaica Plain as they campaigned for former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn. Fifteen years later, Schell believes Brown is another great representative for his hometown.

“He’s independent,” he said. “He’s working for the good of our country. He’s the second most bipartisan senator in the country.”

Schell’s friend Chris Fielding, of South Boston, nodded enthusiastically.

“If you’re a true Massachusetts guy and you’re born and raised here,” the 31-year-old said. “This is your guy.”

Ashley Peterson was one of a handful of young people in the ballroom. The 19-year-old Bentley College student believes Brown has run a successful social media campaign targeting a younger crowd, but thinks that some of her peers are just frustrated with the system.

“I think a lot of young people are sick and tired of Congress not doing good,” she said.

Young people might be swayed by the entertainment at Brown’s event. Boston-based band The Reminsiants kicked off the night by performing several cover songs around 8:15 p.m. Brown’s daughter Alya Brown, a former American Idol contestant, will sing a few songs later in the evening before her father takes the stage.