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You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / 2024 Primaries / Open Thread: The 2024 DNC Convention Will Be In Chicago

Open Thread: The 2024 DNC Convention Will Be In Chicago

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… The convention will take place Aug. 19-22 next year. It is expected to draw 5,000 to 7,000 delegates and alternates and attract up to 50,000 visitors to Chicago.

Evening events will be at the United Center — the main site of the 1996 Democratic convention in Chicago and the largest arena in North America — with daytime business to be conducted at the McCormick Place Convention Center, the location of the 2012 NATO Summit.

Delegates will be housed in about 30 hotels in Chicago.

For more than a year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a co-chair of the Democratic National Committee and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have led a drive for Chicago to host the Democrats in 2024.

Chicago won the convention with a bid package of about $80 million…

By selecting Chicago for the convention, Democrats are highlighting the importance of the Midwest “Blue Wall” states — Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The governors in these states, all Democrats, were all reelected in 2022.

Chicago’s convention backers highlighted the abundance of downtown-area union hotels; the large, centrally located convention venues near hotels; Midway and O’Hare airports; and the restaurants and museums in the city…

The Sun-Times earlier reported that Pritzker and others pledged that the DNC would not realize any losses from the convention. The DNC requires an extensive financial package from the host city to cover a variety of costs, from festivities connected to a political convention to paying for the venues…

Atlanta’s convention argument focused on its important history in the civil rights movement and its status as a swing state sending two Democratic senators to Washington.

But Chicago and New York slammed Atlanta because Georgia is a right-to-work state and has only two union hotels. Organized labor and union voters are an important part of the Democratic base…


… It was a devastating development for Atlanta boosters, who were confident over the weekend that Biden would pick Georgia for the event. It would have amounted to a short-term economic boon for Atlanta, drawing 5,000 delegates and 45,000 other visitors. New York City was the other finalist.

“Atlanta fought hard and left everything out on the field,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.

Atlanta last hosted the Democratic convention in 1988, when Michael Dukakis was officially minted as the presidential nominee and the state was a solid blue bastion. Now Georgia is one of only a few competitive states on the 2024 road to the White House….

The city’s bid centered on Georgia’s swing-state politics, replete with callbacks to Biden’s 2020 flip of the state in the presidential election and the victories by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in the 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs that swung control of the chamber to Democrats.

Also sharing the spotlight was the city’s civil rights history, something that the Choose Atlanta 2024 committee evoked with a slogan that puts a twist on the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ iconic mantra: “Make Good Trouble With Us.”

As they mounted their campaign for the event, Atlanta boosters lined up commitments from the state’s largest corporations and key donors exceeding $20 million, about a quarter of the estimated cost. Ticket sales, sponsorships and suite packages would help cover the rest…

Atlanta Democrats, meanwhile, tried to put an optimistic gloss on the defeat.

“While it’s a short-term disappointment, Atlanta’s relevance will only continue to grow,” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman said. “And we will continue to work hard to grow the Democratic Party in Georgia.”

The mother’s milk of politics…

… Perhaps most of all, key local officials say, national party leaders were wowed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s promise to the DNC to help bankroll an event that could cost more than $80 million.

“Atlanta had the culture they wanted in terms of this feel that the South would come to Atlanta,” Dickens said. “The thing that also Illinois had was a lot of cash coming from the governor, who had already expressly said, ‘I will write this check.’ The DNC would not have any expenses coming back on their balance sheet.”…

Lest we forget:

Reader Interactions

43Comments

  2. 2.

    raven

    But whatever the politics, the metro Atlanta economy didn’t lose all that much when the Democrats announced Tuesday they would take their 2024 convention to Chicago instead, experts say.
    Although local party leaders touted the benefits of having tens of thousands of people come to the area for a week — with various meetings and networking at a range of venues — the positive impact would have been far less than claimed, according to economists who study the impact of major events.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    Honestly, I don’t think too many voters are going to be swayed one way or the other by “was the convention in my general region”. Maybe on the margins, by encouraging more local volunteers and that sort of thing, but seems kind of indirect.

  4. 4.

    FelonyGovt

    Brings back some weird memories for me of the 1968 Democratic Convention, also in Chicago (I’m sure it’s been held there since as well). That was the one where there were riots on the convention floor, heavy handed security by Mayor Daley, etc.

    I wasn’t there, but it was heavily televised,  and my skeezy neighbor, who was about 19 (I was 14) attempted to lure me into giving him a “back rub” with the pick-up line, “quite a scene at the Convention”.  😜

  5. 5.

    Jeffro

    If they hold it the same week as Lollapalooza ’24…two birds, one stone…that’s all I’m saying…

  8. 8.

    PsiFighter37

    Should have been Atlanta. It might be heresy given that the swing states trending our way (GA and AZ in particular) are non-union, but unions have been on a decline for so long (and frankly, I do not see that trend meaningfully changing) that Democrats might need to get around that ‘red line’ for organizing events.

  9. 9.

    Phylllis

    While I know it wouldn’t be possible from a logistics standpoint–not even in the ballpark as far as necessary hotel and convention space–I would have loved for them to have it in Columbia SC. Highlight SC as the first primary state, the great work of Jaime Harrison, and a big ole here’s mud in your eye to Governor Deputy Dawg and Nikki Dumberndirt.

  11. 11.

    Almost Retired

    “Won’t you please come to Chicago” is the best ever song to come out of a Democratic Convention.  Maybe the only one (unless there was a parody song about Rob Lowe and Atlanta).   But I guess I prefer a successful convention over a future classic rock song.

  14. 14.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven: Long long time ago I lived and worked in NYC but had a project in Columbia (SC) and was there 4-5 times a year. People in NY would ask me about the place, and I said “imagine Albany, but worse.”

    A dump.

  15. 15.

    Geminid

    I wonder if Governor Pritzger got WaterGirl’s new Congresswoman to help secure the convention for Chicago. Nikki Budzinski is a real operator.

  17. 17.

    bbleh

    (1) Brilliant!  This will be fkin LIT!

    (2) Could we PLEEEEZ please stay the infighting and circular firing squad for a day or two? The party is NOT going to abandon Georgia, or South Carolina, or any other state.  (Well, okay, I live in WV…)

  18. 18.

    Ol_Froth

    Saw a guy wearing a union shirt from one of the locals at the supermarket today, as he was loading his groceries into his vehicle festooned with QAnon bumper stickers.

  19. 19.

    Almost Retired

    @raven: I stand delightfully corrected!  That was a great track.  It’s not as clear to my Gen X ish ears that it’s about the Chicago convention until you hear the chanting.  I wish I had the chops to write new lyrics to Please Come to Chicago to reflect our current issues.  Also I would need some IP lawyers.

  20. 20.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I think that a Democratic Governor will be an advantage in several ways.

    And one thing I like about Chicago and Illinois is that Democrats can showcase how sound Democratic governance can make people’s lives better in tangible ways. Republicans just want to take us backwards.

  21. 21.

    PsiFighter37

    @Phylllis: I’ve yet to be convinced the Jaime Harrison is actually a good DNC chair. I’d love for someone to point to hard evidence that any of the 2022 election results were a result of decisions he made and not because of state-specific reasons or absolutely toxic GOP nominees.

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    @dmsilev: Agreed. I can’t imagine that the location matters even slightly to any normie. If you watch in on TV, it just looks like the inside of a stadium.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid: She wrote to me today!  :-)

    Providing excellent constituent services is the most important part of my job – and that starts with having a presence in our communities. That’s why my team and I have opened four offices here in Illinois to ensure that we’re accessible to folks all across the 13th District. With offices in Belleville, Champaign, Decatur and Springfield – and mobile office hours throughout Central and Southern Illinois – my team and I are excited to ensure that the federal government is working for you.

    I will never stop hating Rodney Fucking Davis.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    @PsiFighter37: The prob with having it in GA or AZ is that it happens in the middle of the damn summer. It’s hard to say if Atlanta or Phoenix would be more miserable.

  26. 26.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I think you are right.

    I read that Ms. Abrams has taken a position on Howard University’s faculty. I don’t think she’s through with politics though, just taking a break.

    She’ll probably split her time between DC and Atlanta, where her parents live. Abrams helped them move there a couple years ago; her father has health challenges and she wanted him to get better medical care.

  28. 28.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: They say it’s good to take separation anxiety issues head on.

    And now Rodney Davis is my neighbor (sort of). He took a job with a K Street lobbying outfit. Who could have seen that coming!

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    Further banishing the lingering ghosts of Daley and ’68? ’96 laid the groundwork.

    Forgive but never forget.

  30. 30.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Yeah, I think Governor Pritzger planned to make this convention work no matter who is Mayor. And Vallas was quick to concede, said he did not want the city further divided. It seemed like a good outcome to me.

    I’m hoping the convention will showcase some of Illinois’ up-and-coming Democrats. Representatives Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten are solid legislators. They both flipped suburban Republican seats in 2018.

    And freshman Rep. Nikki Budzinski has a lot of promise. Republicans accused Springfield Democrats of drawing the new 13th district with Budzinski in mind. I would not blame the Democrats if they did. She’s held responsible positions as a political professional ever since she graduated from the University of Illinois in the late 1990s. She had already interned for Richard Gephart, Dick Durbin and Planned Parenthood while a student. Her first job out of college was political director at a union’s national headquarters.

    Nikki Budzinslki was a key member of Jay Pritzger’s first campaign and administration, and her last job before she ran for Congress was in the Biden administration, as Chief of Staff for the Director of O.M.B.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    No direct evidence but postulate that Senator Duckworth engaged in a lot of schmoozing and modulated boosterism behind the scenes.

    Good on her if so.

  32. 32.

    Planetjanet

    @PsiFighter37: He is instrumental in getting the primary process changed for 2024.  That is no small feat to overcome entrenched interests and resistance to change.  There are also reforms going on in delegate selection the takes political chops.  State parties are getting more funding.  It is stuff you don’t see in the headlines much.

  33. 33.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Chicago’s fine and all but I think Phoenix would have been a good choice being that we have a Democratic Governor.  While AZ is a right to work state some of the hotels are unionized.  Vegas wouldn’t have been a bad idea either even though they have a GOP governor. I am assuming the GOP convention will be in Florida or Texas.

  37. 37.

    Joe Falco

    NYT Pitchbot: “If the Democrats do not choose Atlanta, the center of the Civil Rights struggle, for the DNC convention, I will have no choice but to vote Republican in ’24.”

  40. 40.

    JML

    It’s always interesting after one of these big events is announced and the location selected that there’s a quote from one more economists saying that there won’t be anywhere near the economic benefit to the locality that’s being touted. And they’re not entirely wrong, politicians always overstate the economic impact. But having talked to one of the economists that gets quoted in these sorts of things, he admitted to me that when he did his analysis he put a zero value on anything he didn’t know how to quantify, so anything that didn’t have a direct economic gain or loss was simply left out of the equation…

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