Illinois Democrats won’t get prime hotel at Milwaukee convention; at least it’s not Rosemont

WASHINGTON — Illinois Democrats did not merit a top tier hotel location for the 2020 Democratic National convention in Milwaukee, but it could have been worse — they could have been assigned to a place in suburban Rosemont, near O’Hare Airport.

A spokesman for the Democratic Party of Illinois confirmed the delegation will stay at the Milwaukee Marriott West in suburban Waukesha, southwest of the city.

The location is about a 20-minute drive from the Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Bucks home arena in downtown Milwaukee where the presidential nominating convention will take place July 13-16 next year.

Milwaukee does not have an abundance of hotel rooms, a reason the Democratic National Committee is casting a wide net in lining up hotels for housing assignments.

Bill Glauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported some state delegations could be assigned to hotels in Rosemont; “the hotels around O’Hare come into play because of their size and ability to handle large group bookings.”

Illinois Democrats did not merit a prime hotel because deep blue Illinois is not a battleground state. With space limited, the closest hotels go to swing state delegates from Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Also, the DNC did not want to split up large delegations, and Illinois will need a lot of rooms — with more than 200 delegates, staff, elected officials, donors and others in the Illinois Democratic orbit — unless folks decide to commute.