A delegation of 50 Milwaukeeans cheered the city’s coronation Friday for hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention as the party’s national committee finalized the decision during meetings in downtown Chicago.
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted the news at around 11:30 a.m.
The 168-member Republican National Committee voted unanimously during a session at the JW Marriott to accept the mid-July recommendation of Milwaukee from the RNC’s site-selection committee. The only other possible finalist Nashville effectively withdrew from the running after the Nashville Metro Council voted Tuesday against an agreement needed to be considered for hosting the convention.
The Republican National Committee’s action means Milwaukee public officials and businesses can start planning and gearing up for 45,000 visitors and potentially $200 million in economic impact. Milwaukee’s RNC win is a salve for the disappointment from the pandemic-influenced fade of hosting the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which nevertheless honed Milwaukee’s pitch for the RNC in 2024.
Milwaukee’s bid boasted bipartisan support, which was one selling point with national Republicans. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson was among the Milwaukee delegation in Chicago for the announcement.
Peggy Williams-Smith, president and CEO of Visit Milwaukee, said she was in Chicago Thursday night and met with multiple RNC delegates.
“The good thing is they’re excited about Milwaukee,” she said. “And they’re really excited that there’s such a big turnout. The mayor’s here, the police chief, the sheriff, the fire chief.”
Besides Williams-Smith, the Milwaukee delegation included Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee Department of City Development commissioner Lafayette Crump, developer and restaurateur Johnny Vassallo, Kristine Hillmer of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Eve Hall of the Greater Milwaukee Urban League, restaurateur Paul Bartolotta, Jim Kanter of Central Standard Distillery, Sarah Maio of the Wisconsin Center District and Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce president Tim Sheehy.
Mayor Johnson joined McDaniel for a ceremony at the hotel at noon attended by the Milwaukee group, the news media and a few dozen other RNC members and staff.
McDaniel applauded the Milwaukee delegation’s efforts including Democrats and Republicans collaborating on the project. She singled out Johnson for praise, citing his statements about putting the city first to generate revenue for businesses and residents.
“He is a great mayor,” she said of the city’s Democratic leader. “Republicans in the whole world should be in shock right now. This is a bipartisan moment happening.”
Johnson said he wants Milwaukee’s RNC win to serve as a signal that the city is ready and able to host large-scale conventions and events including the NBA All-Star Game, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and even the WWE SummerSlam.
“We are looking forward to hosting not just a great convention in 2024 for the Republicans,” Johnson said. “We’re looking forward to hosting a number of world-class events.”
Hillmer, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, said the RNC will be a “shot in the arm” for many businesses hurt by the pandemic.
“It’s not just the hotels, restaurants and bars,” Hillmer said. “It’s all the businesses that support them — the florists, the A-V companies, the liquor companies — that is so critical. That’s why the economic impact is so broad and the ripple effect is going to be huge. It’s very exciting.”
Hall, who is president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Urban League and board chair of Visit Milwaukee, said hosting the RNC will increase Milwaukee’s visibility on the national stage.
“We’re still a gem that a lot of people don’t know about,” Hall said. “To me this is going to be a world spotlight as well as national. And we can use it.”
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce will play a fundraising role for the Milwaukee RNC host committee, just as the organization did for the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Sheehy said.
“The role is to rally the business community to support the RNC — not because it’s Republican or Democrat, but because it’s a platform to promote Milwaukee,” Sheehy said.
https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2022/08/05/milwaukee-chosen-to-host-rnc-2024.html