The Democratic Party has chosen Chicago as the site of its 2024 convention.
President Joe Biden called Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to brief him on the Chicago selection Tuesday morning before leaving for Ireland.
“Chicago is a great choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention,” Biden said in a statement. «Democrats will come together to showcase our historic progress, including building an economy from the middle out and from the bottom up, not the top down.»
The city of Big Shoulders last hosted a convention in 1996, when then-President Bill Clinton was running for re-election and Democrats helped make the «Macarena» dance famous.
“The last convention in Chicago was a great success. It makes sense to put the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024. Every facility where it will be located will be a union facility. Every hotel is a union hotel,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth told NBC News on Thursday. “We are a state that guaranteed in multiple ways the right of women to have reproductive options. And indeed, we are a beacon of hope and security for women’s health care in every state around us.»
Chicago was first seen as a leading contender over a year ago. But the DNC has a more troubled history in the city, when police brutality was on display at the 1968 Democratic convention. Thousands of Vietnam War protesters descended on the city in a full-scale rebuke of the war. The police fired tear gas, dragged and beat the protesters, images that were captured on television. That moment gave rise to a chant, “the whole world is watching,” which means activism against abusive authority.
The decision to choose Chicago was made after deliberations and site visits by members of the Democratic National Committee. In recent months, the DNC has seen Chicago and Atlanta as the top candidates, with New York City remaining on the list.
Each city made aggressive pitches to DNC members, with Chicago and Atlanta leaning on arguments that their regions, the Midwest and South, respectively, will play a pivotal role in choosing the next president. Organized labor had made a strong case for New York City.
Within the DNC, Chicago was seen as the favorite for the appeal of its headquarters, the United Center, and its stock of hotel suites and restaurants, as well as the political and financial strength of Pritzker, whom DNC members believed would I would not allow the convention to fail.
The election last week of a new mayor, Brandon Johnson, a 46-year-old progressive black member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners who won despite underspending in the race, further boosted the momentum behind the Chicago bid.
Last week, Johnson also personally suggested Biden host the convention, and Pritzker had done the same in an earlier conversation with the president.
“I think this changes Chicago’s offer. You just elected this pro-teacher, pro-worker, pro-union person as mayor of Chicago,» Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told NBC News last week. «Send a powerful message.»
Ultimately, however, the decision rested with Biden. The White House told the DNC its wishes. The convention is expected to cost more than $90 million, said one of the sources with knowledge of the deliberations.
Biden has had a special place in his heart for Georgia, a red state that turned blue in 2020, helping bring the president to the White House.
“Democratic turnout in the state of Georgia is the number one reason you and Vice President Harris are in the White House today instead of Donald Trump,” wrote a group of Southern officials as part of their argument for holding the convention in Atlanta.
The Republicans are holding their 2024 convention in Milwaukee.
Carol E. read and Monica Alba contributed.