It was hard to gauge which announcements elicited the loudest cheers from the hundred-something Fresno County Democrats at Club One Casino on Tuesday night’s watch party.

But in President Barack Obama’s conquest to 270 electoral votes — from securing key battleground states to the ever-prized California — and en route to assuring his second term in the White House, one thing was for sure: the crowd at Club One mired in ecstasy for their candidate.

“Fantastic. This is great,” said Michael Evans, chair of the Fresno County Democratic Central Committee. “Obama has done a great job. He deserved another four years.”

MSNBC called the election in favor of Obama roughly around 8:14 p.m., with states such as Florida, Nevada and Colorado still “too close to call.”

With TV screens showing anxious crowds at Times Square and Chicago, the network projected Obama’s reelection — 274 electoral votes to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s 203.

The projected victory over battleground state Ohio (18 electoral votes) propelled Obama past the 270 mark.

At 8:14 p.m., the crowd at Club One Casino roared.

“It’s going good. Our president was just reelected to the White House,” said Steve Smith, with glossy eyes and a tear trickling down his cheek. “It’s going stupendous!”

Added Evans: “I expected it to be called early. This whole media thing about ‘Romney Momentum.’ What was it? I never figured out what that was.”

Obama was reelected to a second term in office in a race that several polls and major media outlets characterized as being in a dead heat leading up to Election Night (Gallup’s final election survey had Romney as a one percentage point favorite over the incumbent).

“I think the media always needs it to be a close race,” said Charlotte Waldo, among those in attendance, at around 8:06 p.m.

The tension and anxiety leading up to 8:14 p.m. mirrored a crowd that would soon be vivacious and victorious.

“It’s going to be ecstatic,” Waldo said soon after MSNBC projected Obama as the winner of California’s 55 electoral votes at approximately 8:08 p.m. “There are so many ways that Obama could win at this point. Florida, Ohio — he’s got it.”

Fresno State student Andrea Coffland, 21 and among the Club One crazed on Election Night, was a part of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She cast her first presidential ballot Tuesday at Fresno State’s polling place as part of a youth vote that she said “in close races like in Florida and Colorado — swing states — really pushed (Obama) over the edge.”

“Young people are the future of this country,” Coffland said. “Their voices are really important. Obama was lucky that he has a lot of their support.”

Tuesday marked the first time since Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe (the third, fourth and fifth U.S. presidents) that America elected three consecutive presidents to two terms.

“We’re not where we want to be. But we’re going in the right direction,” said Brett Johnson, among the Democrats in attendance. “Why in the world would we want to change courses now?”

Roughly one hour after MSNBC called the election, Obama’s official Twitter handle (@BarackObama) tweeted a picture of the president hugging his First Lady.

The caption: Four more years.

Said Obama in his speech in Chicago after his reelection: “Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.”

As of midnight, CNN projected Obama ahead 303-206 in electoral votes. More than 111 million votes were tallied.

Fresno citizen Corine Hatfield, who was at Club One Casino four years ago to witness America elect its first black president into the executive office, was among the teary-eyed and jovial who reveled and roared.

Maybe it was the heat of the moment (minutes after the election was called by MSNBC) that got to her. Maybe she was just simply overwhelmed by the flurry of emotions bouncing around from Democrat to Democrat in the room.

But, by far, she said, “I’ll never ever see a more emotional election for the rest of my life.”