Photos by Daniella Ignacio, Tatyana Masters, and Mirika Rayaprolu. People arrived early for Vice President Kamala Harris’s planned rally at the Ellipse Tuesday. Here are some of their stories. Previously: • What you need to know about the rally • More than 40,000 people are expected • Here’s a map of nearby bathrooms Tracee Lauren Tracee Lauren made a five-hour bus journey from Brooklyn to make it to the Ellipse at 7:20 AM. She’s first in line.  “I trust what she has planned,” the writer says of Harris. “Our parents can point back to times in history where they can say they were there,” Lauren says. “That’s what I wanted to do when I came here.” As she straightened her Harris-Walz camo hat, Lauren says she’ll head back to New York tonight. “I’m just glad I’m here for this moment in history.” Tevin Davis As people who appeared to be members of Harris’s staff walked past the line, people cheered and high fived as they saw someone who looked like the presidential candidate dressed in a spiffy blue suit. But it’s not Harris, it’s Tevin Davis, who you might also know from the 46th season of Survivor. Davis, from Goochland, Virginia, went viral for impersonating Kamala Harris online a couple of months ago. He worked on this outfit for about a week and a half. “I believe the government should not be telling women what to do with their bodies,” he says. “I believe we have a broken system, and we need joy, and we need hope. That’s what Kamala is bringing,” he said. “I’ve heard enough, she is overqualified, she’s right for the job, what she’s saying is that that we should go forward and not go back.” Carl and Debbie Cambria Carl and Debbie Cambria drove down from New Jersey and arrived at the Ellipse at 8:30 AM. They secured their spots near the front of the line, standing third and fourth respectively. Carl, 73, says that as an Army veteran this election is personal. “You cannot be a Commander-in-Chief of something you don’t respect,” he says. “I don’t believe Trump respects the office or veterans.” Debbie, 72, is a retired teacher and says she is voting for Vice President Harris for her family. “Policy can be negotiated, character can’t.” she says. “Our kids and our grandkids need a leader they can respect.” Michele Sanders Michele Sanders drove from New Jersey to DC in her yellow Converse and pearls and flashed her Harris-inspired accessories as she called herself a “pearly girly”: “What excites me is that she’s focused on the middle class which for so long has been ignored in this country.” Sanders took the day off from work to make the trip today. “Go Kamala,” Sanders said as her eyes wandered to the top of the Washington Monument. “Go Kamala, because I’m stressed!” she laughed. Elizabeth and Marc Ciotti Elizabeth and Marc Ciotti left their home in Pennsylvania at 6 AM to get to the rally. “I felt it was so important and symbolic to reclaim this space after January 6th,” Elizabeth says. The Ciottis feel strongly about many policy issues, but abortion is what made the journey worth it. “As far as women’s issues, I just don’t understand how it’s not a men’s issue too,” Marc says. Marc Daniels Up and down the line, Marc Daniels shared handmade yarmulkes and pins that read, “Harris 2024 Walz: Make Abortion Kosher Again.” Daniels still had some Biden-Harris yarmulkes from the last election. “You cannot fight Trump using rational political science,” he says. “One needs to develop a concept for restoring an American soul.” Addie and Kelley Heuisler Addie Heuisler, 13, drove in from Baltimore with her mom Kelley for today’s rally. After canvassing in Philadelphia two days ago, she’s excited about the election, but worried for the outcome. “I’m terrified of Donald Trump,” she says. “I’m just 13, I don’t know much about the world, but I do know that Donald Trump is bad for this country.”   Emma and Mary Campbell and Kayla Servay Emma Campbell, her mother, Mary Campbell, and Kayla Servay held down the back of the line around 12:45 PM. Strangers when they met in line, they chatted as if they already knew one another. Emma Campbell is from Lothian, Maryland, where she says she sees “lots of Trump signs.” “It can feel alienating to live there sometimes. I feel held, safe in this bubble,” she says. She and her mother Mary remember January 6 well. “It was terrible seeing how easily someone could desecrate one of our cornerstones of democracy on such an important day,” she says. Kayla Servay recently moved to DC from Detroit after getting her master’s in policy. “To have [Harris] come rally where I actually am living is what I moved here to do,” she said. “I like it when she gets heated and angry. I’m hoping she comes in with vigor and is fired up.” Kanak and Suja Nambiar Kanak and Suja Nambiar, a couple from India visiting their son in the District, say they’re thrilled to see someone fighting for women. “Our people need to be psychologically secure,” says Kanak Nambiar. “We should live without the threat of wrongful deportation.” Kanak and Suja find commonalities with Harris with respect to her South Indian roots. “She will see that the middle class prospers and not at the cost of wealthy people,” Kanak says. Malvina Holloway Malvina Holloway and her husband drove five hours from Poughkeepsie, New York, and arrived last night. “I love that Kamala Harris talks about opportunity economy, because when you have opportunities, you appreciate the potentials people bring to problem-solving,” says Holloway, a substitute teacher who supervises student teachers, says. She bought her flag from a roadside vendor during a visit from her husband’s cousin, who she says will receive a photo from them today to prove the flag made it to DC.The post Meet Some of the People Who Lined Up Early for Kamala Harris’s DC Rally first appeared on Washingtonian.