Chants of 'Hillary, Hillary' fill hall as Clinton thanks pals in Philly

They were with her - the fervent crowd of familiar Philadelphians and unknown fans standing in the Convention Center on Tuesday night as presidential candidate Hillary Clinton declared victory in the Keystone State.

"Thank you, Pennsylvania! I want to thank everyone," Clinton told the crowd just after 9:10 p.m. - only to be drowned out again and again by chants of "Hillary! Hillary!" from hundreds of supporters waving blue "I'm With Her" signs.

Clinton recounted stories of people she had met in the so-called Acela states over the last month, including the mothers of victims of gun violence she sat with last week. "They're turning their sorrow into strategy and their mourning into a movement, a movement for justice and dignity," she said to cheers.

She was accompanied by her smiling husband, former President Bill Clinton, who campaigned for her here.

Hillary Clinton, whose father had Scranton roots and who bested Barack Obama in a tough 2008 primary here, had campaigned hard to win Pennsylvania again over the last two months. She touted her ties (her father and brother went to Penn State), reminded roaring rallies that her son-in-law is from the Philadelphia suburbs, gave shout-outs to the NCAA champion Villanova Wildcats, and weighed in on the city's proposed sugary-drink tax to fund preschool (she's for it).

On Tuesday night Philadelphia loved her back. Campaign volunteers - local activists and politicians as well as full-time staffers from out-of-state - filled the Convention Center.

"For me, to watch her win tonight, right now there's a lot of adrenaline," said Malcolm Kenyatta, 25, a North Philadelphia activist and political consultant who has been stumping for her in Philadelphia, and who introduced her at a rally in Fishtown last week. "It was tiring - I was sort of all over the city, but to know I played a role in helping the first woman get elected, I think that's just huge."

An hour before Clinton took the stage, the crowd was already chanting her first name and "I believe that she will win" as a funk band played, and blue and red lights cast a purple hue over the hall.

Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., who has been a surrogate for Clinton in Pennsylvania, said she grew the campaign base started by her husband in 1992 and 1996, and continued with her own primary win here in 2008.

"She has roots in Pennsylvania and built a much stronger base than she had," Casey said. "She worked very hard, President Clinton worked hard, and a lot of surrogates did, so it's important to win this convincingly, as she will - but it also gives her a really solid foundation, because a Democrat cannot be elected president if they don't win Pennsylvania."

Casey and his daughters supported Obama in 2008. This time around, he said, they're all for Hillary.

"In a very similar way, they're focused not just on electing a Democrat but the fact that Hillary will be the first nominee from either party who's a woman, and I believe she'll be the next president, so that's very exciting for young women - and even older men," he said.

Before Clinton took the stage, CNN played live and the crowd in the hall erupted in cheers at the mention of each state Clinton won Tuesday.

Ten blocks east, from 50 to 100 supporters of her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, gathered at the Gas Light restaurant to watch the results come in. Many of them vowed to keep working for Sanders; some said they could not support Clinton.

"We're in this to the end," said the West Philadelphia rapper Freeway. Dealing with his own severe kidney disorder, he said Sanders' positions on health care had motivated him to join his first presidential campaign.

At the convention hall, Patrick Burgwinkle, 29, press secretary for Clinton in Pennsylvania, milled about the back of the press section. He'd never set foot in Philadelphia until he took the job here late last year. (He previously worked as her press secretary in Iowa and Oklahoma.)

Originally from Lancaster, Mass., Burgwinkle scrambled to find an apartment in "North Liberty," as he mistakenly dubbed Northern Liberties, and learned how to take "the SEPTA" to get around town.

"There was an adjustment period," Burgwinkle said with a chuckle.

Now the excitement moves on, at least for now, and Burgwinkle is looking forward to his first day off in months, a catch-up phone call with his mother, and getting to do some "normal Philly things."

"Maybe I'll go to a Phillies game," he said.

jterruso@phillynews.com

215-854-5506 @juliaterruso

Staff writer Aubrey Whelan contributed to this article.