Rally attendees lined up outside the PA Farm Show Complex on Wednesday.
The sun was shining Wednesday as people lined up outside the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg for a rally to support U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s bid for president.
Around noon, shortly before doors officially opened to the venue, supporters lined up outside, many sporting “Harris Walz” T-shirts and gear, waiting to hear Harris speak.
TheBurg spoke with Pennsylvania voters of varying ages, races and genders as they waited in line. Most expressed nervousness over the tight race, stressing the importance they know the commonwealth will have in selecting their next president in less than a week.
Lori Saulisbury, event volunteer
Adrian Robinson, 61, of Harrisburg, said that he has been spreading the word about the importance of voting. Specifically, he feels that Harris is best suited to assist the middle class.
“I’ve been calling people, calling my friends, my family; everybody in my house is voting,” he said. “It’s the most important state. This is the one she has to have.”
College students Erin Fitzpatrick, 19, and Soames Rummler, 20, said that this would be their first time voting in a presidential election.
“Voter turnout looks to be like the most important factor in this election. Otherwise, it’s split, almost scarily split,” Rummler said.
Rummler said that there wasn’t necessarily one issue that drew him to Harris, but rather a “vibe.”
“Trump is like old and I’m pretty young, and I’d rather be represented by someone younger and more like quick on their feet,” he said. “It’s more about how people show themselves to other nations. I want to be proud to be an American, and Harris definitely makes me feel like that.”
Fitzpatrick shared that women’s rights issues were of top priority to her.
Justin Warren, 55, of Harrisburg stood out in his “Republicans for Harris” shirt and said that he wasn’t ashamed to speak out against his party’s candidate.
Justin Warren, attendee
“I’ve seen the destruction and the division that’s happened with Trump and it’s just got to end,” he said. “We’ve got to get civility. We’ve got to get back to working together, and it can’t be us versus them, and I won’t support it any longer. Silently, there are a lot of Republicans that feel the same way. There are people that are afraid to speak out because they don’t want to deal with the consequences.”
Father and daughter duo, Carlos and Mya Bruno, came from York, excited about the significance of potentially seeing the first woman become president.
“It gives me a chance to be like, you know what, my daughter could actually believe that she could be president,” Carlos said. “Right now, you can’t really say that. I could look at my son and say he could be president because there has been a Black man that was president. […] But there’s never been a woman. They say America is a place where you can be whatever you want, and I want this to prove it.”
Mya is too young to vote yet, but is already thinking about her future.
“I’m worried about my future, and I’m only 16 and I just really want to see how much she’ll impact my future,” she said.
Greg Stewart and grandson, attendees
Laurie Smith, 68, of Carlisle is also worried. She’s nervous to see where the votes will go on Tuesday.
“This whole election is so crazy,” she said. “Personally, to me, anyone who’s undecided, how could you possibly be undecided? It’s so night and day, black and white.”
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