Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden told The Tennessee Star that the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) site selection committee for the 2024 Republican National Convention will be heading to visit Nashville “in the next week or so.”
Chairman Golden, who has attended three of the last four Republican National Conventions, said that a unique aspect of Nashville is that, if Nashville were to win the bid to host the 2024 Republican National Convention, the bulk of official convention business would take place in a small area, where most activities are within walking distance of each other.
“Nashville has all the sites for the convention in a close-knit area,” said Chairman Golden. “The vast majority of hotel rooms are within walking distance to convention activities. That’s what makes Nashville so attractive, you have everything within walking distance.” Chairman Golden also said that he believes that Nashville has the requisite infrastructure to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Downtown Nashville is home to the Bridgestone Arena, the Music City Center, many hotels, and entertainment venues such as the honky-tonks on Broadway.
Golden told The Star that the RNC site selection committee will use the RFP as a guide to determine the venues in Nashville that they visit. This may be the first time that members of the site selection committee will be seeing what Nashville has to offer. Chairman Golden said, “Site selection is where the rubber meets the road. Committee members check out everything in person in order to verify claims made on a city’s application.”
The RNC site selection committee’s job is to visit venues in a potential host city and report back to the Republican National Committee with a recommendation. The full Republican National Committee will then vote on the recommendation.
The site selection process started for a potential host city when it submitted an RFP, or a Request for Proposal, to the Republican National Committee. Cities submitting proposals are then whittled down to a much smaller group of potential host cities. At some point, this list is whittled down again to cities the site selection committee will visit.
Elements of the RFP include venues for speeches, meeting places for non-public convention business, ample hotel rooms for convention delegates, guests, and other of the tens of thousands of visitors that conventions attract, entertainment venues for the guests, as well as estimated costs and funding sources. Other items that are important to site selection are transportation and security.
Committee members will also likely consider funding sources, the enthusiasm of the business community, factors unique to a potential host city, and the resources and funding needed to be successful in one city versus another in making their recommendations.
The Republican National Convention is where the GOP officially nominates its candidates for president and vice president of the United States, ratifies the party platform, and conducts other business.
The Star previously reported that the final three cities under consideration to host the 2024 Republican National Convention are Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Nashville, Tennessee. The site selection committee has already visited Milwaukee and Salt Lake City. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was previously in the running but has been eliminated from contention.
Governor Bill Lee has put a line item of $25 million into the recommended state budget that could be used to assist with the funding requirements of the 2024 Republican National Convention. “In the Department of Tourist Development, a new special event grant program is recommended with a non-recurring $25,000,000. The grant fund will be used to attract major entertainment, sports, and convention events to the state.”
Once the site selection committee’s visitation schedule is decided out, the committee will likely notify relevant parties of their visitation plans.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Bring on the drunks, high rollers and prostitutes. Nashville is a perfect place for them to party.