2024 Republican National Convention: Milwaukee submits bid to host

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee officially bids to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. VISIT Milwaukee confirms to FOX6 it has submitted its bid. The city confirmed in October it was joining the efforts to attract the RNC, with VISIT the lead organization.

In a new letter to Republican Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Mayor Barrett writes: "To reiterate what I expressed in person – Milwaukee is ready, eager, and more than willing to host a world-class event for the Republicans."

The mayor touts the character of the city’s residents: "hardworking, honest, respectful, inclusive, and diverse. We care about our neighbors and we welcome visitors. Our state is neither Red nor Blue; we reflect the nation. And it is likely, again, that Wisconsin will be important in determining our country’s political future."

He says the city is familiar with the work of preparing a national political convention. The Democratic National Committee chose the city to host the 2020 convention, beating out other finalists Miami and Houston. However, with the pandemic raging, most events were switched to virtual. Milwaukee still hosted the technical infrastructure of the convention like the broadcast operation. Some speakers spoke from the Wisconsin Center, while Nominees Kamala Harris and Joe Biden accepted their nominations in Biden’s home state of Delaware.

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"The City will be particularly well suited in 2024 with the newly expanded Wisconsin Center convention space just steps from the Fiserv Forum arena," Barrett pitched in his letter to the RNC. "We invite you to select Milwaukee as the host for the 2024 Republican National Convention, and allow our great City to showcase the globally important event with operational excellence and top-notch service that I guarantee."

During a news conference at the DNC in 2020, Barrett left the door open for the DNC or the RNC. "Four years from now, we are certainly going to leave the lights on for the Democrats, and if I can say this to my friends without offending them, for the Republicans as well."

Democrats have also invited Milwaukee to bid on the 2024 convention. The letter the Democratic chair sent to Milwaukee this summer and acquired by FOX6 News, said it’s a "first step" in what is a long bid process. A DNC spokesperson said letters were sent to more than 20 cities.

In an April interview with FOX6, DNC Chair Jamie Harrison said he was open to the idea of picking Milwaukee, again. "Given the circumstances of what happened in Wisconsin, we’ll definitely keep that in consideration when we’re making that decision," Harrison said.

"I was part of the site visit team the last convention cycle, and so I got the chance to spend a lot of time in Milwaukee, looking at your facilities," Harrison said in April. "I was heartbroken that we weren’t able to come and enjoy the great state of Wisconsin with all of the Democrats across the country. We will be examining our convention site -- location and all -- in the coming months. We haven’t made up a decision yet. We’ll probably have a site convention visit team, again. Wisconsin, we understand the heartbreak from that, and we’ll keep that in consideration when we chose the site of the 2024 convention."

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At that time of the 2020 convention, FOX6 News asked Joe Solmonese, the then-CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee, if the city can get a rain check for a future convention. He said the conversation had already been started.

"There are an awful lot of people who are talking about Milwaukee in 2024," Solmonese said. "If you ask me, should the Democratic convention be here, absolutely. It's a different set of people who are going to make that decision. A different leadership, a different chairman, a different site selection committee."

If Milwaukee lands one of the 2024 national political conventions, the city could welcome tens of thousands of people and an estimated economic impact of $200 million.