Overseer of the 'Bill-board', Fox's Bill Hemmer says Election Night runs on adrenaline - and 1 am pizza

Breath mints, pizza and energy drinks are part of Bill Hemmer's election night routine, but there's one thing that fuels him over anything else: adrenaline.

"I felt this way about every breaking news story I've covered," Hemmer, 59, tells USA TODAY over video call from his office in New York City.

The co-anchor of Fox News Channel’s "America’s Newsroom" explains the constant stream of incoming information, data and numbers "feeds the story" and "gives it energy" which "in turn, gives you energy also."

"The problem (arises) when information slows down or stops, and when that happens, you start to feel it physically," he continued.

"I think that adrenaline gives you an energy sometimes that you don't know is actually there," Hemmer said.

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'Creature of habit'

Adrenaline aside, other election night essentials include Altoids to "keep the breath nice and fresh," an occasional Red Bull, and a late-night pizza run depending on how long into the night it is.

Describing himself as "a creature of habit," Hemmer says no matter what story he's covering or what part of the world he is in, he tries to stick to his schedule.

"You want to make sure you don't develop bad habits so hopefully I'll stick to my schedule," Hemmer says. "But there's nothing wrong with a slice of good, hot pepperoni pizza at one o'clock in the morning. Sometimes that gives you energy you don't expect."

Hemmer says he'll grab whatever is available at the time, but prefers "Joe's Pizza, Carmine and Bleeker," adding "it's New York City's best." As for coffee, Hemmer says he would try to avoid having too many cups as it'll "burn through" his stomach, but he might grab another whole milk grand latte with two shots in the late afternoon to help him get through the evening and night.

"Remember, it's not just caffeine," Hemmer says. "It's the data. It's the information. It's how the story is developing in ways that we really can't predict (so) you really ride the wheel of adrenaline. There's an authentic excitement to that when you do what we do."

Weekend discipline

For Hemmer, the mental and physical preparations for Election Night begin the weekend before.

"I think it's really important to come in to the (election) day as fresh as you can be," Hemmer says. "Which means, you're disciplined on Friday, Saturday, most of Sunday. Monday, you're kind of rolling into it and Tuesday it's liftoff."

"We don't know how late Tuesday night will go, and we don't know if Tuesday night we'll decide it and whether or not we're still here a week later," the anchor adds.

Hemmer would know. He famously once hopped on a plane to Tallahassee for five days to cover the 2000 Presidential Election while with CNN and ended up being there for 37 days.

Though he hopes this election cycle doesn't see a repeat of that, Hemmer says he might pop down a few blocks to his apartment to catch some winks depending on how the election unfolds.

"If I have to run home, I can run," Hemmer says. "It's two miles away and two miles back."

Eyeing 'new tools' for 2024

While Hemmer has "been through this cycle many, many times (before)," having covered every election cycle for Fox News since 2005, he says he's using every opportunity he can get to prep for election night so he's ready for just about anything.

"I collect stuff," Hemmer says. "I got a big pile, and the pile gets bigger by the day. You need to put couple hours here and a couple hours there just to go through everything you got saved up."

Hemmer has a couple of spots around New York City and Long Island, where he likes to sit down and sift through all the research material he's been collecting. His favorite spots include a library in Sag Harbor, where he also has house and a historic library in downtown Manhattan with "beautiful wooden tables and windows."

Hemmer shared that he and his team at Fox News began preparing for this election in January 2021. While at the time they were planning for the midterms and how to improve coverage, the impact of that trickled into their preparation for the upcoming election. With each election, whether presidential or midterm, they tried to refine it and do it in a way that would best appeal to their audience.

"We think we've been able to refine some tools for November 5 that will be unique but will also help the viewer understand the way the story is developing," Hemmer says. "We've got some new tools, we got some new ideas, and all of that, together with our analysis and the real time information we're taking in, is going to make for a fascinating night for America and for all of our friends watching from overseas."

The Bill-board

One of the tools is the "Bill-board," which Hemmer says will be "an excellent way of showing" viewers "how things may unfold in real-time."

"My feeling is if you're allowing the viewer to come into your process, you're going to win on that when you give them the perspective that you're seeing on your side," Hemmer says. "I think there's like information sharing, and it's a bit of an educational process that works both ways. The viewer rewards you when you allow them to take a look inside what you're trying to do."

Election after-party

Once the Election wraps up and a new president is on the helm, Hemmer says he's going to celebrate with "a big birthday." The news anchor will be turning 60 on Nov. 14.

"We're going to have a big party," Hemmer says. "No matter the outcome."

Hemmer says he might consider taking a vacation around Thanksgiving, but the fact is that even after the election is over, "none of this is really going to slow down."

"The environment will still be very ripe for very interesting and important stories here and overseas," Hemmer says.

"That's another way of saying you don't get a day off," he adds with a laugh.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Overseer of the 'Bill-board', Fox's Bill Hemmer says Election Night runs on adrenaline - and 1 am pizza