A Get-Out-the-Vote event went awry at Old Union this week, further deteriorating trust between the Stanford Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. For the past 250 years, the two groups have been locked in a bitter ideological stalemate as they each vie to shape the nature of American democracy.

The Democratic Party dates back to anti-federalist groups from the time of American independence. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized these factions into the Democratic-Republican Party in 1792.

Though Republicans seized control of the presidency and the Senate Tuesday night, Democrats have held onto the prospect of a majority in the House—but now that hope, too, is slipping. While it’s still technically possible,