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Ohio is one step closer to hosting both major political party conventions in 2016 after Columbus was announced Monday as one of three finalists for the Democrats.
Republicans had previously chosen Cleveland for its convention site.
The Democratic National Committee Monday removed Phoenix, Ariz., and Birmingham, Ala., off the list of potential hosts of the Democratic National Convention, leaving only Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia as rivals to Columbus still vying to host the nominating convention.
Cleveland, bowed out of the competition for the Democratic convention after the Republican National Committee selected it earlier this year.
“You can’t get to the final unless you’re in the semi-finals,” said Columbus-area Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Twp. “So it’s great news.”
“Ohio is the most sought after swing state, and it’s more important than ever that Columbus hosts the 2016 Democratic National Convention,” said Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “Our city is a top contender because Columbus is walkable, affordable, and holds great electoral value.”
DNC officials are expected to select the site early next year.
DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced the three finalists in a letter to supporters.
“I’m so excited for this convention, and I hope you are too,” she wrote. “We have a critical, incredible opportunity to elect another Democrat to the presidency, and this is where we’ll come together as a party to do that important work.”
She also announced that the DNC is considering hosting the convention the week of July 18, the week of July 25 and the week of Aug. 22.
Wasserman Schultz made her announcement after DNC officials did a tour of all five cities this summer. They visited Columbus in August, to great fanfare, with about 1,000 gathering outside Nationwide Arena to demonstrate the city’s support for landing the convention.
Columbus organizers lauded the city’s many restaurants, the proximity of the convention center to Nationwide Arena and the many hotels, restaurants and bars nearby as evidence that the city is ready to host a convention.
“We are in it to win it,” said former DNC Chair David Wilhelm, Columbus 2016 Steering Committee chair. “We are as serious as a heart attack about winning this thing.”
Should the city land the convention, it could bring some 40,000 attendees into Columbus and inject an anticipated $150 million to $200 million into the city’s economy.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called Columbus “the ideal host” for the 2016 convention.”
“The convention will give the city a platform to display our state’s diverse and innovative capital city,” he said. “I look forward to working with the city’s leaders to make history and bring the convention to Ohio.”
If Columbus is selected, it would be the first time one state has held both parties’ conventions since 1972, when the Republicans and Democrats gathered in Miami.
Wilhelm said the initial process aimed at determining whether cities met the technical requirements of hosting a convention. By making it to round two, Columbus has done that.
“I have always thought that if we make the cut and we are competitive, the politics works to our advantage,” he said.
He said while being in the final three is “exciting,” “it’s not nearly as exciting as being named the actual site of the convention.
“And I think that’s where our focus needs to be.”
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