Democratic National Convention Update
September 24, 2014
For those of you who haven’t heard, Columbus is vying to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention. This comes as no big surprise after Cleveland announced that it would host the 2016 Republican National Convention in what it’s calling the “heart of the ultimate swing state.”
Currently Birmingham, Alabama, Brooklyn, N.Y., Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Columbus are in the running. However, Birmingham may not have the physical capabilities to host a convention this large. The New York Police Union have urged the Democratic National Committee to reject Brooklyn due to safety concerns. There are some political tensions in Phoenix due to Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and controversial birth control comments. This has led some Columbus city officials to believe that it will be a race with Philadelphia to land the right to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
But what would a convention of this magnitude mean for Columbus? It would mean a huge scale effort to map out security details and transportation for nearly 40,000 visitors, including the delegates, President Barack Obama, past presidents, the party’s nominee and reporters.
It would also be a game changer for the Columbus economy.
Ohio has always been a battleground during elections. “So goes Ohio, so goes the nation.” So the bigger question is whether the Democratic Party can afford not to come to Columbus, right here in the heart of the swing state.