Global Courant 2023-04-11 20:46:39
The Democratic National Committee is hosting its 2024 presidential nominating convention in Chicago, the DNC announced Tuesday.
The Windy City defeated bids from Atlanta and New York to host the convention after Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson pitched President Biden to host the Democratic National Convention there.
The Chicago skyline with Lake Michigan in the foreground is seen on October 16, 2022. (Vincent D. Johnson/Xinhua via Getty Images)
The DNC emphasized in its congressional city announcement that the party is giving back the Midwest, calling it “a critical Democratic stronghold,” and that Illinois, along with Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, were part of the “blue wall” that was critical to President Biden’s victory at the White House in 2020.
Biden, who had the final say in the decision, stressed in a statement that “Chicago is an excellent choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
“Democrats will come together to show our historic progress, including building an economy from the center and bottom up, not the top down,” the president added.
And in a hint at his expected re-election announcement later this year, the Biden said that “from repairing our roads and bridges to unleashing a manufacturing boom and creating more than 12.5 million new high-paying jobs, we have already so much delivered a lot for hard-working Americans – now it’s time to get the job done.”
The convention will take place August 19-22 next year and is expected to draw between 5,000 and 7,000 delegates and alternates and up to 50,000 visitors to Chicago.
Chicago, which had been one of the front-runners in hosting the 2024 convention for more than a year, last hosted a convention in 1996, when then-President Bill Clinton won reelection.
The city also hosted the infamous 1968 Democratic convention, which witnessed a brutal clash between police and protesters protesting the Vietnam War.
Chicago is all blue, and holding the convention in a pro-union city could demonstrate Biden’s strong support for organized workers, which could be critical to his chances of winning a second term in the White House.
The Republican National Committee announced last year that the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominating convention will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
While Illinois is a reliably blue state, Wisconsin is a crucial general election battlefield.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report