JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The line was wrapped around the block at the Ritz theater in Jacksonville on July 21, 2023.
People were battling the heat while they waited to hear Vice President Kamala Harris's address on African American history.
Several said they wanted to be part of history, seeing the first Vice Presidential visit to the LaVilla neighborhood.
However, with Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris, that visit may have just gotten more historic.
“It’s not every day you see the Vice President or President of the United States," said Deborah Thompson, who was there for Harris's speech.
Thompson made sure to snap a pic when she had a chance with Kamala Harris during her July 2023 visit to the River City.
She never thought at the time she’d be taking a pic with the person who could soon become the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
“To see someone at that level, to see someone who represents our country, our community and our nation," said Thompson.
Darryl Whiting was also there that day, and says hearing that speech in person changed her impression of Harris and he started looking at her as a possible future president for the first time.
“I heard about it, stood in line," said Whiting. "It was hot that day, but it was worth it. She let us know that we matter, not only locally, but statewide and to the White House.”
The 600 seats at The Ritz were full to hear Harris, but one person who wasn’t there – Duval GOP Chair Dean Black.
Black says he feels Biden’s decision to endorse Harris is a positive for the Republican Party.
“They’ve replaced a non-candidate with a horrible candidate," said Black. "She shares responsibility in their policies. At the end of the day, that’s what we’ve been campaigning on. Policies. Not personalities and not individuals.”
Several folks who saw Harris speak are holding out hope they’ll have another chance to see her in Jacksonville before the vote in November.
“I think that Florida is in play this election," said Katie Hathaway, who was at the speech. "We’ve gone blue in the past, and Duval County is a really important county across the state of Florida to see that happen again.”
Duval County is the epitome of a swing county – there are about 600,000 registered voters at the moment, and only about 10,000 more Democrats than Republicans, so that’s a small margin.
It remains to be seen if either presidential candidate will make a stop in Jacksonville to try to either close, or add to that gap before November.