DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison will be joined by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a co-chair of the DNC, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.
WASHINGTON — Using Chicago’s iconic skyline as a backdrop, top Democrats will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to celebrate Chicago winning the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
The news conference comes a day after the Democratic National Committee’s announcement that Chicago’s bid beat rivals Atlanta and New York. The ultimate decision on the host city was President Joe Biden’s.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison will be joined by the three top Democrats who quarterbacked Chicago’s successful bid: Gov. J.B. Pritzker; Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a co-chair of the DNC, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson and other Chicago stakeholders will also be at the event. Those stakeholders are expected to be the civic and business, hospitality industry and labor leaders who helped put together the city’s bid.
The news conference will be on the grounds of the Shedd Aquarium.
The Sun-Times on Tuesday talked to Pritzker, Duckworth, Lightfoot and Johnson about bringing the convention to Chicago — and how they got the news.
NEXT STEPS: Contracts have to be finalized and signed, and a host committee must be formed to fundraise. Chicago bid about $80 million for the event.
Chicago last hosted a convention in 1996, when Democrats gathered at the United Center. The arena will again be the main evening venue for delegates in 2024.
WHAT GOES AROUND: A similar news conference was held in 1994 to officially announce the news that Chicago would host the 1996 convention.
Here’s the Sun-Times headline on my story from Aug. 4, 1994: After 26-Year Penance, City Gets Party Today
And this was the top of my story ...
WASHINGTON — With Navy Pier providing a scenic skyline backdrop, Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm make it official today: Chicago will host the 1996 Democratic National Convention.
Wilhelm will be joined by Mayor Daley and other officials for the announcement at 11 a.m.
“They are finally coming to our city,” Daley said Wednesday. “They should have come before.”
The 1996 gathering at the United Center will be Chicago’s 25th major political convention and the first since 1968 when anti-war protesters clashed with police and Mayor Richard J. Daley angered delegates meeting at the International Amphitheatre.
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.
