2020 Republican National Convention
The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, plans to convene a traditional large-scale convention were cancelled a few weeks before the convention. Primary venues included the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., with many other remote venues also being utilized. The convention nominated President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for reelection.
The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, but on June 2, 2020, Trump and the Republican National Committee pulled the event from Charlotte after the North Carolina state government declined to agree to Trump's demands to allow the convention to take place with a full crowd and without public health measures designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and face coverings. Trump then announced that the convention would be moved to Jacksonville, Florida, but subsequently cancelled the Jacksonville convention plans on July 23. Some convention proceedings, albeit dramatically reduced in scale, were still held in Charlotte, such as "small, formal business meetings." Most speeches were delivered at Washington, D.C.'s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. Other events and festivities, including Trump's acceptance speech, were held remotely at various locations, including Fort McHenry and the White House. By tradition, because Republicans held the presidency, their convention was conducted after the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was held from August 17–20. Another contrast to typical conventions was the prerecorded nature of much of the convention's content. Former White House director of management and administration Marcia Lee Kelly was named convention president and CEO in April 2019.
Trump faced only token opposition in the Republican primaries and caucuses, and unofficially clinched the Republican nomination in March 2020, when he reached 1,276 pledged delegates.
Background
Allocation of pledged delegates
The base number of pledged delegates that were allocated to each of the 50 states were 10 at-large delegates, plus 3 district delegates for each congressional district. A fixed number of pledged delegates were allocated to Washington D.C., and each of the five U.S. territories. Bonus delegates are awarded to each state and territory based on whether it had elected through December 31, 2019 : a Republican governor, Republican majorities in either one or both chambers in its state legislature, one or two Republicans to the U.S. Senate, or a Republican majority in its delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. A state was also awarded additional bonus delegates if it was won by the Republican candidate, Trump, in the 2016 presidential election.Planning and organizing of the convention
, and Charlotte, North Carolina, were mentioned as possible locations for the 2020 RNC due to their locations within "swing states." Neither had ever hosted a Republican National Convention, although Charlotte had hosted the 2012 Democratic National Convention. A Charlotte television station, WBTV, reported that Charlotte, Las Vegas, and "another unnamed city in Texas, which sources at the meeting said were likely either Dallas or San Antonio" were finalists to host the convention.Other sources named Dallas, Texas, and New York City, New York, as prospective hosts, while Las Vegas, Nevada; Nashville, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Antonio, Texas had been under consideration earlier. However, Charlotte was the only city in the country to officially submit a bid for the convention. On July 18, 2018, the RNC Site Selection Committee voted unanimously to recommend holding the convention in Charlotte. The Republican National Committee made the selection official on July 20.
Following President Trump's rally in Greenville, North Carolina, the Charlotte City Council proposed retracting their bid to host the convention. All nine Democrats on the city council voted on a measure calling Trump a racist for his statement. The city met in closed sessions with an attorney regarding their contract to host the convention. A conclusion was made that breaking the contract would likely end with the city being taken to court and forced to host the convention. A resolution was eventually approved by the Charlotte City Council.
Relocation to Jacksonville and reversal
On May 25, 2020, Trump raised the possibility of moving the convention out of Charlotte after North Carolina governor Roy Cooper stated that the convention would need to be scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 2, 2020, after weeks of failed negotiations, Governor Cooper rejected the plans submitted by the Republican Party to host a full-scale convention. Trump announced the cancellation via tweet, stating, "Because of , we are now forced to seek another state to host the 2020 Republican National Convention."RNC officials stressed that the mechanics of the convention would still be held in Charlotte. "The RNC's Executive Committee has voted unanimously to allow the official business of the national convention to continue in Charlotte. Many other cities are eager to host the president's acceptance of the nomination, and we are currently in talks with several of them to host that celebration," said RNC communications director Michael Ahrens.
Republican National Committee officials reportedly considered cities including Atlanta, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, and Savannah, and even visited some of these cities.
On June 11, the Republican National Committee confirmed that the main events and speeches of the convention would move to Jacksonville, Florida, including Trump's nomination acceptance speech on August 27 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. However the convention's official business was to remain in Charlotte with a greatly reduced agenda and number of delegates. August 24 was to see a portion of the convention hosted in Charlotte, with the following three days of the convention being held in Jacksonville.
On July 16, the Jacksonville Republican National Convention Host Committee sent out a letter announcing that, in addition to the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, other venues in Jacksonville would be used, including TIAA Bank Field, Daily's Place, 121 Financial Park, and "several other" venues.
However, with the explosion of COVID-19 cases peaking at above 15,000 cases per day in mid-July, the possibility of the Jacksonville convention being canceled as well began to be discussed. Several of the local health restrictions in Charlotte that had prompted the RNC to seek a different location—requirements for people to wear masks and practice social distancing—were later adopted by Jacksonville. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was 86 years old, said he would skip the convention for the first time in 40 years due to the risk of COVID-19.
On July 23, Trump announced that RNC events scheduled in Jacksonville, Florida, had been cancelled, saying, "The timing for the event is not right." However, Trump also announced that delegate business would still continue in Charlotte.
Relocation of most activity to Washington, D.C.
On August 14, it was announced that much of the convention would take place at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., which would serve as the convention's "central hub". With some events in Charlotte, this became the first since the 1860 Democratic National Conventions to be centered in two different cities.Host committees
Charlotte
Charlotte businessman John Lassiter served as the president and CEO of the Charlotte 2020 Host Committee. Ned Curran, Doug Lebda, and Walter Price served as co-chairs, and were named to those positions in 2018.The host committee appointed Stephanie Batsell as its volunteer coordinator, John Burleson as its communications director, Heather Dodgins as its director of donor engagement, Haley Habenicht as its events manager, Rachel Kelley as its finance director, and Stephanie Speers as its accounting manager.
The committee released a statement after most of the convention had shifted to Jacksonville criticizing the Republican National Committee for "broken promises".
The committee originally reported raising $44 million for the convention. Due to the majority of the event being shifted away from Charlotte, the Charlotte host committee had millions in leftover funds which it could distribute with few restrictions. The committee originally promised in mid-August to give $3.2 million in funds to local nonprofits and community groups. However, by October, they had only distributed under $400,000 in funds.
Jacksonville
Jacksonville formed their own host committee after being awarded the convention.The committee's members were announced in mid-June. Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry and lobbyist Brian Ballard co-chaired the committee. The committee had originally named 32 initial members, including the two co-chairs. The initial 30 additional members were Pet Paradise president and CEO Fernando Acosta-Rua; Corner Lot Properties founder Andy Allen; Sunshine Gasoline Distributors founder Maximo Alvarez; FRP Holdings, Inc. chairman and CEO John Baker; former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi; Florida state senator Rob Bradley; president and CEO of GreenPointe Holdings, LLC Ed Burr; U.S. Sugar senior vice president Robert Coker; Visit Jacksonville president and CEO Michael Corrigan; J.B. Coxwell Contracting president J. David Coxwell; Jodi Coxwell; Florida state representative Travis Cummings; JAX Chamber president and CEO Daniel Davis; Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association president and CEO Carol Dover; Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford; president of the Florida Senate Bill Galvano; Miranda Contracting president Josh Garrison; health official Leon L. Haley Jr.; Bishop Vaughn McLaughin; Morales Construction Co. president Rick Morales; speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Jose Oliva; businessman Tom Petway; US Assure CEO Ty Petway; The Vestcor Companies founder John Rood; U.S. congressman John Rutherford; Florida Senate president designate Wilton Simpson; Florida House of Representatives speaker designate Chris Sprowls; Total Military Management COO Kent Stermon; JAXUSA Partnership president Aundra Wallace, and U.S. congressman Mike Waltz.
After the initial members were announced, Bishop Vaughn McLaughlin denied his participation, despite having been listed as a member. Leon Haley Jr. left his position on the committee days after his membership was announced.
The committee reported having raised $4,650,135.20. As of October 2020, the committee had $840,000 in unspent funds.