The Republican Party will hold its 2020 convention in Charlotte, the Republican National Committee formally announced Friday afternoon.
The North Carolina city’s ability to marshal the vast financial resources required to finance a presidential nominating convention plus its experience from hosting the 2012 Democratic convention that re-nominated President Barack Obama were probably key advantages in winning the event that Republicans hope will catapult President Trump to a second term.
The GOP’s ability to use the convention to gin up enthusiasm and harvest voter contact information in a swing state is a side-benefit. The Democrats are sure to compete for North Carolina in 2020, hoping to recapture magic from 2008, when Obama won the state.
“People, quite often, don’t understand convention site selection decisions. If you listed the 10 top reasons, the first would be ability to pay for it,” said Mike Shields, a former top RNC official. “Cities that win are ones that come to table with concrete plans that show that they have ability to pay for a convention.”
In 2016, Cleveland hosted the Republican convention, and Shields said that was because, first and foremost, the lakeside metropolis put together a solid financial package. Always a priority, a city’s corporate community’s ability to underwrite conventions has become more important since 2014, when the Republican controlled House of Representatives led an effort to end federal financing of the Democratic and GOP conventions.
Las Vegas, also in the running for the Republicans’ 2020 confab, fell short this time after also making a pitch for the event in 2016. It’s possible that with such a healthy convention industry, Las Vegas corporate leaders weren’t motivated to put together a financial package that equaled Charlotte’s, even though the Nevada destination rivals its competitor in terms of hotel, meeting space, and transportation infrastructure.
Republicans are lauding Charlotte, the recommendation of the RNC’s site-selection committee.
“I am thrilled to announce Charlotte as the official host city for the 2020 Republican National Convention,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing the Queen City take center stage as the Republican Party re-nominates President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to continue fighting for the American people.”
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Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority CEO Tom Murray expects 35,000 people to visit the city for the political event.
In 2016, Republicans gathered in Cleveland, Ohio, and selected President Trump as their nominee.
Brad Parscale, campaign manager for Trump’s re-election team, said the city is a “prime example of how Trump’s policies improved people’s lives.”
“We look forward to continuing our America First momentum here in the Queen City and delivering four more years of historic victories and tremendous success,” Parscale said in a statement.
The Democrats have not yet shared where they plan to rally together in summer 2020. Their 2016 convention was held in Philadelphia.
