Arizona will not host GOP convention
Arizona will not be hosting the relocated Republican National Convention in August after party officials announced Thursday they are moving the event to Jacksonville, Fla.
The decision comes after a burst of pitches from across the country to land the quadrennial event that had been originally scheduled for Charlotte, N.C.
“We are thrilled to hold (President Donald Trump’s) acceptance of the Republican nomination in the great city of Jacksonville!” Ronna McDaniel, Republican National Committee chairwoman, said in a tweet Thursday evening. “Not only is Florida his home state, it is crucial to victory.”
On June 2, Trump said he was pulling out of Charlotte because that state’s governor could not assure the GOP the event would have large crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The relocation decision is a disappointment for Republicans who sought to bring Trump’s nomination event to Glendale.
But it’s likely also a relief to others who will not have to prepare for a major event on short notice or deal with the health concerns and protests the convention also figures to bring.
Republican Reps. Debbie Lesko and Andy Biggs took the lead in pressing for Arizona to host the convention. Kelli Ward, Arizona Republican Party chairwoman, also touted the benefits of bringing the national event to the state.
Lesko, whose district includes the Glendale facilities that would have been the center of the event, discussed it with the RNC, which sent a scout team to the area June 9.
Biggs personally lobbied Trump on the issue.
One person notably not on the list was Gov. Doug Ducey. The governor said the decision was Trump’s to make, but even Biggs noted that Arizona’s pitch would benefit from more-effusive support from its Republican governor.
But the timing was problematic.
Ducey is facing national criticism over his handling of the pandemic. He later took heat for imposing a curfew during nightly protests over police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. His intervention came after looting in Scottsdale’s Fashion Square Mall.
Lesko said she appreciated the RNC’s consideration. “I’m just thankful they came out here,” she told The Arizona Republic. “You never know where this leads. Maybe we’ll get it next time around.”
Ward didn’t directly comment on Arizona missing out on hosting the convention, and instead focused on the upcoming event in Jacksonville.
“Arizona’s Republican delegates were excited to travel to Charlotte to nominate President Trump and Vice President (Mike) Pence, and that enthusiasm and energy hasn’t waned an iota with the change of location,” she said via a text message statement. “We can’t wait to kick things off in the Sunshine State!”
Perhaps the most compelling argument for Arizona as the host has been the state’s newfound political competitiveness. Arizona, a traditionally Republicanleaning state, is considered up for grabs in the presidential election.
Trump has visited the state many times as a candidate and as president.
Apart from that, metro Phoenix has successfully hosted multiple Super Bowls, collegiate championships and other events that draw national audiences.
But GOP officials saw several other immediate contenders in Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada.
The Phoenix area has sought the Republican convention before, such as in 2012, but the region’s intense summer heat was called disqualifying.
At the time, Arizona was at the center of a national furor over Senate Bill 1070, the state’s controversial immigration-enforcement law. But then-Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was assured that the state’s hot weather, and not the immigration controversy, was the reason Phoenix lost out to Tampa, Fla.
“I talked to a number of RNC members, and a number of them said it’s just too hot in August,” McCain told The Republic in 2010.
A bid for 2016 never got close consideration, and there wasn’t one made for the 2020 convention originally, in part because of Trump’s high-profile feuds with McCain.
Republican insiders within the Arizona GOP had been quietly making plans to make a play for the 2024 Republican National Convention, in a post-Trump era.