Tuesday’s election attracted a lot of interest across the board, but voter turn out wasn't what many thought it might be.

But before looking too much forward, it's important to glance back at what contributed to last night's results; and you may be surprised about what didn't play as big of a role as once thought.

"I was hoping for a long night, but it ended up being long for celebrating, not waiting for results,” said Indiana State University Student Government President Michael Scott Jr.

That student leader wasn't the only one celebrating. While millions of Americans were celebrating the election of Barack Obama, local voters were celebrating their local candidate’s success. Local Democratic Party leaders say they know what contributed to Democratic success.

Joe Etling, Chairman of the Vigo County Democratic Party said, "People cooperated and worked together as a team, and I thought that manifested itself with come great results from Democrats yesterday. I think more importantly, great results for the citizens of our county."

Carl Klarner, professor of political science at Indiana State University tells WTWO that voter turnout wasn’t what many expected. “Voter turn out dropped this election. In 2004, it was about 60% of the eligible electorate. This election, it's going to be about 57%," said Klarner. He continued, "Youth have surged a little bit particularly if you consider the fact that turn out was down... We haven't really seen a surge in youth turn out."

While the younger vote did not turn out the way many thought, an interesting side note, students tell us that hundreds of ISU students took to the streets last night after Obama was named President-elect. They celebrated outside for hours on campus and at the Obama office in Terre Haute.