By Brendan O’Brien and Jarrett Renshaw
CHICAGO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and his party selected Chicago to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, tapping a large liberal city in the heart of the Midwest to hold its nominating party, the Democratic National Committee announced on Tuesday.
Chicago beat out New York, another progressive city, as well as Atlanta, a city in the presidential battleground state of Georgia that helped Biden win the White House and gain control of the Senate. Houston was eliminated earlier in the process.
“Chicago is a great choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention,” Biden said in a statement. “Democrats will gather to showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not from the top down.”
Chicago’s supporters made the case that it was diverse, liberal city that celebrated labor and civil rights. They also argued that it was located in the critical Midwestern part of the country that Democrats need to win if they want to retain the White House. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a longtime and wealthy Democratic donor, also made clear that his state’s largest city had the financial resources and experience to run a smooth, large-scale event.
The convention, where delegates will formally select a final Democratic nominee to run in the November 2024 presidential election, will run from Aug. 19-22, the DNC said.
Biden called Pritzker to tell him about Chicago’s selection before leaving for Ireland, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
While he has not officially declared his candidacy, Biden is expected to be the party’s standard-bearer in the 2024 general election.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Jasper Ward; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)
