The GOP site selection committee will recommend to the entire Republican National Committee (RNC) that they choose the city of Milwaukee, Wis., to host the party’s 2024 national convention.
RNC Senior Advisor Richard Walters said in a statement, “Today, the Site Selection Committee voted to recommend Milwaukee to host the 2024 Republican National Convention and it is a testament to the forthright and professional behavior embraced by Milwaukee’s city leaders throughout the process. A final decision will be made by Chairwoman McDaniel and the full RNC in the coming weeks.”
Milwaukee’s Democratic Mayor Cavalier Johnson was guardedly pleased.
Milwaukee’s Democratic mayor says he is ready to welcome Republicans with open arms during the next presidential election after a GOP committee voted Friday to recommend the city as the site of the 2024 Republican National Convention.
“I don’t agree with everything in the Republicans’ platform. I disagree with the party’s stance on a huge range of issues,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said during a news conference. “That being said, Republicans will host the convention somewhere in the United States in two years. I want the economic benefits.”
He’s not jumping for joy, but the several hundred million dollars in the pockets of local businesses, not to mention the high-profile exposure the city will get, makes up for any differences in ideology.
GOP money is just as green as Democrats’ cash.
In fact, the Democrats tried to host a convention in Milwaukee in 2020. But at that time, Democrats were trying to prove they “followed the science” and the whole thing was a bust. Everything was carefully socially distanced, and meetings were smaller and conducted by Zoom wherever possible. Biden never went to Milwaukee, preferring to give his acceptance speech in Delaware.
Related: Progressive Group Announces Plan to Oppose Biden Renomination in 2024
The contest for which city would host the GOP convention came down to two locations: Nashville and Milwaukee. Nashville, also a Democratic-run city, threw a roadblock in front the RNC when the city council refused to discuss a framework agreement on what the city would be responsible for in the lead-up to the convention.
In Nashville, Mayor John Cooper and others have expressed concerns about security issues, the economic trade-off of largely shutting down an already-bustling downtown except for convention activity and the implications of tying up city resources to tend to the event.
But some progressive leaders have gone further to argue that hosting the massive Republican party goes against the city’s values. Last week, several members on the metro council sent state GOP chairman Scott Golden a letter asking if Tennessee Republicans plan to remain “outwardly hostile” to the city in its efforts to be welcoming, maintain policies that make it the state’s economic driver, and manage challenges with the city’s massive growth.
Rebecca Kleefisch, one of the leading Republican candidates for Wisconsin governor in 2022, got in a dig at the Democrats for abandoning Milwaukee in 2020.
Democrats abandoned Milwaukee in 2020, and when we get to showcase Wisconsin to the nation in 2024, a Republican governor will be there to greet them.
The GOP was born here, and we’re ready to celebrate our legacy of freedom and put a Republican back in the White House. https://t.co/H9e14o5Gr9
— Rebecca Kleefisch (@RebeccaforReal) July 15, 2022
The political implications of Milwaukee hosting the convention are obvious.
Smart choice for the GOP as Wisconsin is likely a must-win for any Republican Presidential candidate in 2024, although the actual impact of these conventions is doubtful https://t.co/MrQ6CRACka
— Political Election Projections (@tencor_7144) July 15, 2022
Republicans are almost certainly going to need to win either Wisconsin or Pennsylvania in 2024 to win the presidency. The Keystone State is up in the air, but Wisconsin appears to have been getting redder since 2020. Holding the convention in Milwaukee should create a lot of momentum in the state going into the 2024 election.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member