4 things to know about the 2024 Chicago Democratic convention
Before a news conference marking Chicago winning the 2024 Democratic convention, key contracts were signed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Rocky Wirtz, co-chair of the United Center Joint Venture.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison holds up Bulls and Blackhawks jerseys with the Biden-Harris names on the back. Both teams play at the United Center, the main venue for Chicago’s 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Before the news conference outside of the Shedd Aquarium on Wednesday marking Chicago winning the 2024 Democratic convention — with the city’s skyline a stunning backdrop — key contracts locking in the deal were signed inside by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Rocky Wirtz, the co-chair of the United Center Joint Venture.
There was also a light lunch — chicken wraps and salads and a vegan option — plus a visit by one of Shedd’s very biggest and most enduring stars, Wellington-the-Penquin.
The site of the celebration was very deliberate — to showcase Chicago, since a purpose of a city bidding for a presidential convention is not so much to nominate a presidential candidate as it is to whip up business and enhance its reputation.
Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison came to Chicago a day after Chicago’s winning bid was announced by the DNC, which scrutinized offers from Chicago, Atlanta and New York.
The skyline background was an obvious choice. When then-Democratic National Committee chair David Wilhelm traveled to the city to make Chicago’s choice for the 1996 Democratic convention official, he did it on Navy Pier.
The final decision for the host city came from President Joe Biden, and while New York seemed to take it in stride, the front page headline of the print Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said in big, sad letters, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”
My friend, AJC columnist Patricia Murphy, put the city’s disappointment this way: “It felt a little like a breakup we never saw coming.”
The news conference speakers were Harrison, Lightfoot, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a DNC vice chair, Gov. J.B. Pritzker — the quarterbacks of the Chicago bid — and Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.
Republicans hold their convention July 15–18, 2024, in Milwaukee. A few weeks later and 93 miles south, Democrats will meet in Chicago Aug. 19-20 to nominate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Observations, news and what’s next in the march toward the convention:
CONTRACTS
Deals with multiple private and government entities have been negotiated or are still in the works. On Wednesday, Lightfoot signed off on the city’s pledges and Wirtz OK’d the lease on the United Center, which will reprise its 1996 role and host delegates each evening.
Contracts are still pending with McCormick Place and organized labor — with everything on track toward signing. Each of the 30 hotels housing delegates — all in the city — also did or are doing contracts dealing with room blocks, rates and other details.
FUNDRAISING
There are two entities that will be handling the considerable fundraising that will be needed. The bid was in the ballpark of $80 million. Money will be raised through the political arm, the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee, and a nonpartisan group, a Chicago Host Committee.
The DNCC works with state parties, the DNC, delegates, Biden reelect campaign and puts together and pays for the convention “production.”
The host committee may well include civic-minded corporations headquartered in and around Chicago and Republican donors or corporate chiefs who just want to boost the city, spur tourism and increase economic development. The host committee will pay for welcome parties and recruit and coordinate the 12,000-plus volunteers who will be needed in the months ahead.
LIGHTFOOT’S LEGACY
The convention will be Lightfoot’s enduring legacy. Defeated for a second term on Feb. 28, a lot of the negotiations on the city’s end have or will have taken place by the time her term ends on May 15. She was the lead off speaker and spent time thanking — well, everyone.
“Look, it takes all of us, it’s going to take a village to make sure that we showcase this city on the highest stage”… there are “too many” “pundits and critics” who “talk about our city in a way that is unrecognizable to us who live here. This will help right the wrong and tell the truth about the best city in the United States, bar none, the city of Chicago.”
WHY DO CONVENTIONS MATTER?
It’s not about your politics, per se. It’s about being able to witness one of the bedrock institutions of our democracy. And yes, it can be inspiring and just very cool to be at a convention session during the speeches.
Harrison told his story. In 1988, he was 12 years old, and at the Democratic convention in Atlanta. Chicago’s Rev. Jesse Jackson was making his second run for president.
“And he was talking about hope. And he was inspiring a whole new generation to get involved, to take control, to make sure that hope was available for their generations and generations to come.”
And now the 47-year-old Harrison, the third Black DNC chair, the son of a teen mom is, he said, “now going to gavel in the convention, right here in Chicago.”
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.
