What to Know About Kamala Harris’s Speech on the Ellipse

Vice President Kamala Harris will make her final case to voters Tuesday on the Ellipse—one last opportunity before Election Day to contrast her campaign with that of former President Donald Trump, who hosted his infamous “Stop the Steal” rally at the same White House-adjacent park on January 6, 2021. Here’s what Washingtonians should know ahead of Harris’s closing remarks:

Plan for big crowds

Harris is expected to address an audience of about 20,000 people on the Ellipse, according to the event’s National Park Service permit. An earlier permit, which sought to host the remarks on the National Mall rather than the Ellipse, estimated about 8,000 attendees. (For reference, the 2011 National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse, which featured an appearance by Kermit the Frog, drew about 17,000.) Overflow crowds will head to the Washington Monument’s northeast grounds.

To grab a good spot, attendees might want to arrive early—the site opens to the public at 3 PM, hours before programming is slated to start at 7:15 PM. Once underway, the event should run for about an hour.

Registration is free

Those interested in watching the speech in person can register for free on the Democratic National Committee’s website. Washingtonian has reached out to the DNC for information on whether attendance will be capped, but we haven’t heard back yet.

Expect these road closures

According to DC police, the following roads will be closed to traffic from noon to 10 PM on Tuesday:

• 17^th St. from H St., NW to Independence Ave., SW
• 15^th St. from F St., NW to Independence Ave., SW
• Jefferson Dr. from 14^th St. to 15^th St., SW
• Madison Dr. from 14^th to 15^th St., NW
• Constitution Ave. from 14^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• C St. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• D St. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• E St. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• F St. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• G St. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• New York Ave. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• E St. from 14^th St. to 15^th St., NW
• Pennsylvania Ave. from 17^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• Pennsylvania Ave. from 14^th Street to 15^th St., NW (local hotel traffic only)

And parking bans will be enforced from 6 AM to 10 PM on these streets:

• 17^th St. from Pennsylvania Ave. to Constitution Ave., NW
• Constitution Ave. from 14^th St. to 18^th St., NW
• 15^th St. from F St. to Constitution Ave., NW

Hockey fans driving to the Washington Capitals game at Capital One Arena are advised to take note of these closures and plan for extra travel time.

Runners in the annual 17th Street High Heel Race should also stay on their toes as they navigate to the Dupont Circle course.

We don’t know who—if anyone—will join Harris

 

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A post shared by Tim Walz (@timwalz)

Harris is the only speaker specified on the NPS permit, and campaign officials have kept mum on whether any special guests will be joining her. We know Harris has supporters with star power—last week alone, she was joined by the likes of Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, and former President Barack Obama on the campaign trail—so it’s worth keeping an eye out. VP candidate Tim Walz has been promoting the event on social media, but his attendance isn’t confirmed at this point.

We know Trump was joined by some high-profile speakers during his closing remarks at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday: The Republican candidate welcomed some of his celebrity endorsers to the stage—including Dr. Phil, Hulk Hogan, and standup comic Tony Hinchcliffe, who made such a crude comment about Puerto Rico at the event that Trump’s campaign issued a rare statement distancing themselves from the sentiment.

The symbolic significance of the Ellipse as the site of Harris’s final appeal to voters marks another effort by the campaign to distinguish her as this year’s pro-democracy candidate. Trump was the last political figure to speak at the park back in January 2021: He urged listeners to “fight” against baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, which he falsely argued led to President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory—shortly after, throngs of his supporters broke into the Capitol as Congress was certifying the results.

Speaking of conspiracy theories, we at Washingtonian are still wondering if there’s buried treasure over there.

This post will be updated if any new details are released about road closures or the event itself.

Kate Corliss

Editorial Fellow