Atlanta loses 2024 Democratic National Convention to Chicago

In a blow to Democrats in Georgia and across the South, the Democratic National Committee selected Chicago as the site of its 2024 convention despite a strong push for Atlanta to host the political spectacle.

Party officials announced that Chicago would host the convention, dashing hopes of top state Democrats who had lobbied President Joe Biden and his allies relentlessly for the quadrennial event.

They hoped it would showcase Georgia’s growing political importance as one of the nation’s premier battleground states. But instead the convention went to Chicago, the biggest city in one of the nation’s most solidly Democratic states.

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the development, which four Georgia officials confirmed. Chicago Democrats touted the state’s pro-union stance and its deep base of political donors. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire with potential presidential aspirations, also assured leaders that the event would emerge debt-free.

It would have amounted to an economic boon for Atlanta, drawing 5,000 delegates and 45,000 other visitors. New York was the other finalist.

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 map to the White House.

Intense behind-the-scenes maneuvering and public jockeying for the project didn’t pan out for Atlanta.

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 more than $20 million in commitments from the state’s largest corporations and key donors. The total cost was expected to top $80 million, with roughly half coming from ticket sales, sponsorships and suite packages.

The Choose Atlanta 2024 committee included U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, Democratic operative Michael Tyler, executive Clark Seydel, campaign consultant Clayton Cox, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and two of his key aides: Courtney English and Austin Wagner.

Promoters of the event took the chance to press Biden, who made the final decision, every chance they could. That included when Dickens and other Georgia Democrats trekked to the White House last year to celebrate the Atlanta Braves’ World Series victory.

They also recruited allies from outside Georgia to promote the city. Among them was former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who lined up endorsements from elected officials and prominent party figures across the South.

In a regional show of force, more than 60 Democratic officials from across the South signed a letter in late January urging Biden to select Atlanta to “send a message to the base of our party that we will never take you for granted.”

“Selecting Atlanta will put Republicans on notice, making it abundantly clear to them that they will have to compete and allocate resources across every corner of the map if they want to keep pace with the gains we are making as Democrats,” the letter stated.

Still, Chicago made a case of its own that selecting the Windy City for the event would bolster Democratic support in the Upper Midwest. Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson held a private call with Biden last week immediately after he won the city’s closely watched runoff election.

And The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that the DNC’s technical advisory committee ranked Chicago first when it considered key factors for host cities like transportation options, high-speed internet and fundraising capacity.