The Republican National Committee on Friday announced the host city for its 2024 national convention, where the next GOP candidates for president and vice president will be formally nominated, kicking off the final stage of the campaign to reclaim the White House.
After narrowing down a list of potential convention locations that look more normal than the unconventional COVID protocol conventions of 2020, the final two candidates were Nashville and Milwaukee.
Ultimately, Milwaukee won — largely because the Nashville Metro Council voted not to allow Music City to host the Republican Party’s nominating convention.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel shared the news on Twitter:
I’m thrilled to announce that the RNC voted unanimously to select Milwaukee as the host city for the 2024 Republican National Convention!
Milwaukee is a world-class city, and we can’t wait to see it shine in the spotlight in 2024.
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) August 5, 2022
I look forward to working with members of the Republican National Committee, @BurmistrzOfMKE Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee Economic Committee and @visitmilwaukee to host an amazing convention for our party and nominate the next President of the United States!
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) August 5, 2022
McDaniel also spoke about the decision to designate Wisconsin as a “purple state” and a battleground state in 2024. “Those are the voters we’re trying to bring to our party,” she added, saying, “We’re excited to showcase a great city and a great state.”
Former Governor of Wisconsin and current President of the Young America Foundation Scott Walker famed his home state’s selection for the 2024 GOP convention, calling it “great news for Milwaukee and great news for Wisconsin” and “great news for Republicans because we’ll be able to carry Wisconsin again in 2024.”
In 2020, Democrats chose Milwaukee to host their nominating convention, but the pandemic forced an initial delay, then most activities were curtailed, and most of the convention broadcasts came from other parts of the country. For 2024, Democrats still haven’t selected a host city for the convention that will nominate President Biden or whoever he serves.
In added political drama, Milwaukee was, at least for a while, under consideration by the Democrats for their 2024 national convention as a “consolation” for the normal influx of business and attention that was lost as the scale of the 2020 convention was scaled down due to Covid. But now the RNC has beaten them to it – for now.
For the past six years, both major parties’ nominating conventions have been held in the same city, but the last time this happened was in 1972, when Miami Beach hosted both the RNC and DNC. Chicago hosted both conventions in 1184, 1932, 1944, and 1952, while Philadelphia saw both conventions in 1948.
Republicans chose Charlotte, North Carolina, as the site of their 2020 convention, but the pandemic also upended those plans. Ultimately, most of the convention speeches were broadcast from an auditorium in Washington, D.C., with the final evening taking place on the South Lawn of the White House. Earlier, the 2016 GOP nominating convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio.
