Vice President Kamala Harris ended her presidential campaign with a rally Monday night on the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s “Rocky Steps,” just hours before polls opened on the morning of Election Day.
Thousands gathered on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the star-studded outing, which featured performances from Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Will.i.am and others.
“So Philadelphia, you ready to do this?” Harris said. “This could be one of the closest races in history. Every single vote matters.”
“We need everyone to vote in Pennsylvania, and you will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania,” she added.
Oprah Winfrey preceded Harris, briefly interviewing a group of 10 first-time voters from Philadelphia who plan to vote for Harris.
“If we don’t show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again,” Winfrey told the audience.
Campaign officials estimated that 30,000 people turned out for the rally. Gaga closed it out, near midnight, with “The Edge of Glory.”
“And now, Pennsylvania, it’s your turn,” Gaga said after singing “God Bless America” from behind a piano. “The country is depending on you.”
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are hoping for a high turnout in Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 8 to 1, to overcome former President Donald Trump’s advantage in more conservative regions of the state.
The vice president spent the final day of her campaign traveling across Pennsylvania. In the hours prior to Monday night’s Parkway rally, Harris stopped in Scranton, Allentown and Reading before headlining an event with pop star Katy Perry in Pittsburgh.
Campaign officials said she has made 18 trips to the commonwealth since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid in July.
Trump and his surrogates have similarly focused on the Keystone State. On Monday, he rallied supporters in Reading and Pittsburgh, while his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, campaigned in Newtown, Bucks County.
“After four years of overseeing rising prices, a dumpster fire of a border crisis, and endless wars abroad, Kamala Harris is skipping around Pennsylvania one last time asking for a promotion,” Trump Pennsylvania spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement Monday.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s iconic steps were off-limits to the public as a result of the rally, and museums along the Parkway, including the Barnes Foundation and the Franklin Institute, were closed Monday.
R&B performer and Philadelphia native Jazmin Sullivan kicked off proceedings just before 7 p.m. with a cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic protest anthem “What’s Going On.”
“They’re trying to take our reproductive rights, so what’s going on?” she said before the song, channeling a key issue for the Harris campaign.
Performances from members of Philadelphia’s hip hop royalty, including the Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Freeway, energized the throngs gathered on the Parkway.
Rapper Fat Joe told the audience that he did not see the humor in comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” during Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last week.
“I heard they needed a Puerto Rican in Philly and I was so happy to come out here,” Joe said, before introducing Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin. “One thing I won’t do is sell my soul for anybody. If I’m out here telling you she’s the one, it’s because she’s the one.”
Clips of speeches and performances from simultaneous rallies in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Raleigh, Phoenix and other battleground state cities were broadcast while the masses awaited Harris. And they waited quite a while as the night air became progressively chillier; the vice president did not take the stage until around 11:30 p.m.
Local leaders who appeared encouraged attendees to make a plan to vote, if they have not already, and ensure their relatives, friends and neighbors are casting a ballot.
Mayor Cherelle Parker told the crowd that the “path to the White House is paved through Pennsylvania,” but noted voters will also be weighing in on a nationally-watch U.S. Senate contest.
“We also have to make sure that we send them (Harris and Walz) some help in the United States Senate and we elect Bob Casey,” the mayor said. “Democrats up and down the ballot.”
Casey, who is pursuing a fourth term, is being challenged by GOP businessman Dave McCormick.
“In the end, this will be the most consequential election of our lifetime,” Casey said at Monday night’s rally. “We’ve got 24 hours and a couple of minutes to get the vote out.”
