Democrats may not have a location, but they have an early date for their 2016 presidential nominating convention.
The Democratic National Committee announced Friday their convention will be the week of July 25, 2016 — a week after the Republican Party’s convention in Cleveland. Those dates are a substantial leap in the calendar from 2012, when both parties held their conventions at the end of the summer.
The Democrats haven’t picked a host city yet, but the party is in final talks with New York, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio.
DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will visit Columbus on Monday, followed by Brooklyn and Philadelphia later in the week, a DNC spokeswoman confirmed to Columbus Business First.
During the last presidential election the Republicans held their convention first, from Aug. 27-30, 2012. The Democrats followed a week later, from Sept. 4-6, 2012.
Both parties are eager to move convention dates forward. In 2012, the GOP had a long primary season and a shorter general election time, during which nominee Mitt Romney failed to persuade voters he was a better alternative to President Obama.
Perhaps more importantly, picking a nominee earlier allows the respective parties to access general election campaign funds sooner. The impetus for a shorter general election cycle has waned as major-party candidates eschew public funding and the finance limits that come with it. In 2008, both Obama and Republican candidate John McCain declined public financing in the primary contest, which allowed them to avoid spending limits.
In 2012, Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney both also declined public financing for their campaigns — and each subsequently raised more than $1 billion in the first modern presidential campaign in which donors were not limited by contributions for political ads.
Both parties will also have to deal with something new in this election: Not being able to use public funds for their conventions.
In April, President Obama signed a bill that redirected the $126 million used to fund annual convention parties to pediatric medical research.
In elections prior, taxpayers could voluntarily check a box on their federal tax returns and designate money to help finance nominating conventions and presidential campaigns.
