‘A game-changer’: Chicago City Council members, residents react to return of Democratic convention
The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday morning that Chicago will host the 2024 convention next August. Chicago beat out New York and Atlanta.
O’Dell Boyd lived in Chicago when the city last hosted a Democratic National Convention in 1996. Now, she is “excited to show off our city” when it returns next year.
The South Loop resident said Chicago’s “amazing lakefront” and landscaping make the city “the best all-around” place to host the convention.
“I think it’s a good thing. Chicago is a wonderful place. We have everything to offer,” said Boyd.
The Democratic National Committee’s choice of Chicago for the August 2024 gathering was announced Tuesday, with Chicago beating out New York and Atlanta.
The convention, being held from Aug. 19-22, is expected to draw 5,000 to 7,000 delegates and about 50,000 visitors to Chicago, the Sun-Times previously reported. Aside from voting on a platform and other party matters, delegates’ main item of business will be officially nominating their presidential ticket.
O’Dell Boyd, walking in the South Loop on Tuesday, said she’s excited that the 2024 Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Daytime meetings and events will take place at McCormick Place Convention Center in the South Loop, while the main events in the evenings, including the eventual acceptance speech by the party’s presidential nominee, will be held at the United Center on the Near West Side.
Far South Side residents Cesar Sanchez and his wife, Gail,— who were eating at the Palace Grill near the United Center on Tuesday morning — said they are glad the convention is coming because of the business it will bring to the city.
“Anything that brings business to Chicago — whether it’s the Republican convention or the Democratic convention — it’s a good thing,” said Cesar Sanchez, a retired pipefitter.
Cesar and Gail Sanchez said they think the DNC will bring business to Chicago. The South Side residents were at the Palace Grill near the United Center on Tuesday.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Ella Tupkalo, who lives in the South Loop, was out enjoying a warm spring day in the neighborhood with her 1-year-old daughter, Arielle, when she got the news.
Tupkalo thinks the convention will be “good for business” and some on the City Council would agree.
On Tuesday, two members already were eagerly anticipating the economic boost.
In a tweet, downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) called the convention “a game-changer for Chicago’s tourism & hospitality industry; hundreds of small locally-owned businesses; and tens of thousands of hospitality workers!
“It will fill hotels, bars, restaurants, museums & cultural institutions. A strong economic catalyst just when we need it!” Reilly wrote.
This is a game-changer for Chicago’s tourism & hospitality industry; hundreds of small locally-owned businesses; and tens of thousands of hospitality workers! It will fill hotels, bars, restaurants, museums & cultural institutions. A strong economic catalyst just when we need it! pic.twitter.com/wNKPWh57Wu
Pilsen Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) called it an opportunity to showcase Chicago as “a blueprint for other cities instituting meaningful progressive policies.”
“I think it’s meaningful to have that conversation here after a mayoral election that really put a contrast between different wings in the party,” Sigcho-Lopez said of Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s victory over the more conservative Paul Vallas. “We landed on the side of working people in a hugely important election.”
Sigcho-Lopez said he wants to see the influx of visitors — and their out-of-town dollars — to spread beyond the United Center and McCormick Place. “We have 77 beautiful community areas. I hope that economic activity is shared across the city,” he said.
Some residents, however, expressed concern about the convention. Nae Shepard, who works in security at a public library near the United Center, said she wished the city were using the money it is spending on the convention for shelters and community centers.
“I don’t think this is necessary,” Shepard said about the convention.
Katya Lysander, who works at a social service agency near McCormick Place, said she expects “a big crowd.”
“I’m sure the CTA is going to be a zoo, but I’m not really worried,” Lysander said. “I’m sure it’s going to be bigger than some of the other big conventions that happen, but the auto show every year is similar.”
Isabella Weiss, a talent agent who works in the South Loop, said having the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is “exciting,” and wants politicians to focus on reproductive rights in 2024.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Robert Mitchum said he is confident the United Center can handle the traffic the event will bring. The West Loop resident said he does not see traffic issues during Bulls and Blackhawks games at the United Center.
Law enforcement and crowd control were issues Mitchum said he thinks may come up ahead of the convention next summer. Mitchum was a young boy during the Grant Park riots at the 1968 convention in Chicago, but he said he does not think anything like that will happen again.
Isabella Weiss, who works in the South Loop, said “it’s exciting” that the DNC will be coming to Chicago, but she does not think it will impact her much.
“I haven’t really paid attention to the conventions before,” Weiss said. “It seems to be more for the big donors, rather than average, everyday citizens.”
As a registered Democrat, Weiss she said she hopes to see politicians focus on reproductive rights and gun control in the 2024 election.
Lysander, also a Democrat, said hopes Democrats will discuss paid family leave and universal basic income. She added that she wants to see the Democratic Party “meet the needs of working people and Americans.”
Sneed is told President Joe Biden was actually warned a year and a half ago by a top top Dem pollster that his re-election was in the doghouse with young voters. Gov. J.B. Pritzker was being urged to run in a primary in case Biden pulled the plug.
Teams fanned out around the United Center and McCormick Place on Friday distributing flyers to explain the security perimeter zones that begin as early as Aug. 16.
The up-and-coming Chicago artist’s major commission in East Garfield Park is one of seven projects tied to the city’s moment in the national political spotlight.
From reminders of the hurdles they’ve had to overcome to confidence in Harris’ ability to lead, these delegates describe what the vice president’s nomination means to them.
The courtroom at the Area 3 police station at Belmont and Western will be staffed from 8 a.m. to midnight during the week of the convention, which begins Aug. 19.
The Sun-Times first reported the Harris campaign called Pritzker Wednesday about the possibility of serving as her running mate, but the Illinois governor told reporters that Harris’ campaign “did not call me yesterday.” The Sun-Times stands by its story.
The maps designate two separate perimeters around the United Center and McCormick Place, where Democratic delegates will respectively meet to coronate the party’s presidential nominee and conduct party business
The Democratic National Convention takes place Aug. 19-22, but street closings and public transit detours begin days earlier — and the sprucing up is already underway. “It’s b—----- because it took [the convention] for them to fix it up,” said Henry Horner Homes resident Tracy Johnson of the improvements.
The vice president is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., a Black Greek-letter organization. Her more than 300,000 “sorors” plan to play a large role in the November presidential election.
The department got a black eye over how it dealt with protests following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. And the images of cops beating demonstrators with batons during the Democratic convention in 1968 are still seared into the national consciousness.
Harris’ campaign called the governor to discuss the No. 2 spot on Wednesday, a source told the Sun-Times. “I’d be reluctant to make a change, but it’d be hard to resist a call and consideration if the nominee called me to ask to be considered for vice president,” Pritzker said on CNN.
The goal is for the nominee to be selected by Aug.7 in order to lock in access to ballots in every state by not waiting for the Democratic convention in Chicago running Aug. 19-22.
The rally in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee, came a day after the vice president earned the support of enough delegates to secure the nomination, which is expected to come formally in early August via a virtual roll call.
“They’re going to do everything they can to turn the American people against her,” former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun told the Sun-Times. “There are a lot of people out there who don’t like the idea of a woman telling them what to do.”
Individual members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — whose headquarters are in Chicago — have begun mobilizing in masses to support their “soror” in the historic race for president.
Some major donors signaled their distress about Biden staying in the race by declining to write more checks or host events. That concern dissolved within hours of Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic 2024 nominee, with no rival coming forward.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who had been on short lists as a potential replacement for President Joe Biden, said Monday morning he had spoken to Harris and told her the president’s decision “came as a genuine surprise.”
The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out Donald Trump’s many falsehoods.
The fundraiser will be at the home of a family friend on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The campaign has at least 10 other fundraising events over the last 10 days of July.
Martez Cristler and Nicholas Virgil were charged with murder and aggravated arson, Chicago police said. Anthony Moore was charged with fraud and forgery in connection with the fatal West Pullman house fire that killed Pelt.
“In terms of that, it kind of just is what it is right now,” Crochet said pregame. “I’m focused on pitching for the White Sox, and beyond that, I’m not really controlling much.”
Taking away guns from people served with domestic violence orders of protection would be a lot of work. “There aren’t enough sworn officers to carry out what’s being asked here,” Pritzker said.
