2024 Democratic National Convention


The 2024 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention in which delegates of the United States Democratic Party
voted on their party platform and ceremonially reported their vote to nominate Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris for president and her chosen running mate Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota for vice president in the 2024 United States presidential election. It was held from August 19 to 22, 2024, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates virtually nominated Harris and Walz the first week of August. Harris is the first Black woman and first Indian woman to be the presidential nominee of a major political party in the United States, and the first Democratic presidential nominee from the Western United States.
Earlier, on March 12, incumbent President Joe Biden became the party's presumptive nominee, running against several candidates, which included an incumbent Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives during the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Other than Biden, the only presidential candidates who were awarded pledged delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention based on the results of the primaries were U.S. Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota and businessman Jason Palmer. Conflicts with ballot deadlines led the Democratic National Committee to vote on June 20 to allow an early online nomination vote. Following the 2024 Joe Biden–Donald Trump presidential debate and the withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election, Biden immediately endorsed the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign. And though Biden had endorsed Harris as the new candidate at the top of the ticket, there was no obligation for the delegates to follow suit. With the other most viable presidential prospects endorsing Harris, she secured the non-binding support of enough convention delegates to make her the new presumptive nominee the next day, and Harris was the only candidate with enough delegate support to be on the ballot for the virtual roll call. The atypical circumstances were described by The New York Times as starting a campaign "unlike any in modern times". Throughout the fourth and final night, Beyoncé and others were heavily rumored to make an unannounced appearance, leading to rampant speculation on social media that ultimately failed to materialize. Some delegates after the convention said that they tested positive for COVID-19 due to so many people being at the convention. Throughout the convention, protests over the Gaza war took place, including from the Uncommitted National Movement.
Harris and Walz would go on to lose the 2024 election to the Republican Party ticket of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance defeated in all seven battleground states.

Site selection

Early developments

Amid the downsizing of the 2020 Democratic National Convention held in various parts of the United States, including its main host city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in a virtual format impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was discussion among some notable individuals in Milwaukee about the city pushing to receive the 2024 convention as consolation. Speculation existed that, due to the circumstances surrounding the downsizing of the 2020 convention, Milwaukee would be a front-runner to host the convention if it pursued it. Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett was open to the city hosting either a Democratic or Republican convention in 2024.
In the summer of 2021, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison sent letters to over twenty cities inviting them to bid to host the convention.
Officials in Columbus, Ohio, had, since at least 2019, discussed trying to seek either the Democratic or Republican convention in 2024.
After being one of approximately twenty cities that Harrison invited to bid, Barrett wrote Harrison a letter indicating the city's interest in hosting the party's 2024 convention. Milwaukee was also bidding to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Nashville, Tennessee, took action to pursue either party's Convention.
Top Democrats from Illinois, including Governor J. B. Pritzker, Senator Tammy Duckworth, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, laid the groundwork to host the convention in Chicago. Chicago has hosted the most major-party presidential nominating conventions of any city. The 1968 Democratic National Convention was mired in violence between anti-war demonstrators and the Chicago Police Department. The most recent convention saw the renomination of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. On May 3, 2022, Chicago launched a website to promote the city as a potential host for the convention. Facilities in Chicago mentioned as potential primary venues include the United Center, Wintrust Arena, and Navy Pier.
In May 2022, Atlanta and New York City also announced bids for the convention. New York City had not previously been expected to bid.

Official bid process

, Chicago, Houston, and New York City submitted bids by the May 28, 2022, deadline. In January 2023, Democratic National Committee officials confirmed that the finalist cities would be Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City, with Houston no longer being considered.
Early into Chicago's bid, in addition to proposing United Center as the primary venue and McCormick Place as a possible venue for secondary convention business, Museum Campus, Navy Pier, and Wintrust Arena were also additionally floated as facilities that could additionally be used for secondary convention business. The Chicago bid was chiefly championed by Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Bid supporters touted the city's large airports, cultural attractions, and the central location of the convention venues and the hotels where delegates and other visitors would stay. They argued that Chicago's location in the Midwest would be wise given the high importance for the Democrats of the nearby swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan. Democratic Party leaders in other Midwestern states threw their support behind Chicago's bid. They also touted that the city's hotels generally employ union laborers. Governor Pritzker, a billionaire who had contributed large sums to the organization fundraising for Chicago's effort, made a pledge to the Democratic Party that the party itself would not incur any financial losses from the organization of the convention. The remaining mayoral candidates in the 2023 Chicago mayoral election runoff, Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas, vowed to support the city's effort to host the convention. The victory of the progressive Johnson over the more conservative Vallas in the city's runoff election was speculated to have helped Chicago's prospects.
Supporters of Atlanta's bid argued that a convention in their city could aid the Democrats in making political inroads in the South, touting the city's history in civil rights activism and its state's recent ascendence in 2020 to become a key swing state in presidential and U.S. Senate elections. These points were countered by New York and Chicago backers, who criticized the city's lack of unionized hotels and the state's "Right to Work" law as discordant with the party's alliance with organized laborers.
On April 11, 2023, it was announced that Chicago had been selected as the convention's location, with the United Center to serve as the primary venue and McCormick Place to be a secondary facility used for various early-day convention activities. Chicago and the previously selected Republican National Convention host city, Milwaukee, are approximately 90 miles apart on the coast of Lake Michigan. Not since 1972, when both conventions last shared a host city, have the major party convention sites been so closely located. Illinois is regarded to be a solidly Democratic state. No party has opted to hold their convention in a non-swing state since the 2004 election, though Chicago is within a few hours' drive of the swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
CityStateStatusProposed venuePrevious major party conventions hosted by city
'''Chicago

Logistics

The convention was held on August 19–22, 2024. The United Center, previously the location of the 1996 Democratic National Convention, was the convention's primary location. McCormick Place hosted secondary business of the convention. The convention was attended by between 5,000 and 7,000 delegates and alternate delegates. Approximately thirty hotels in the city provided lodging to convention delegates. The convention was expected to bring an overall 50,000 visitors to Chicago.
There were three funding sources for the convention. With the Pennsylvania Democratic Party donating over 24 million to the convention, the bid committee pledged that the host committee would raise $84.697 million. Through 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee Inc., money was raised in accordance with the Federal Election Commission's regulations. Additionally, $50 million were received in federal funds for security costs, as has been the case for all major party conventions since 2004. Congress was urged to increase this to $75 million. The Democratic National Committee also requested the bidding cities agree to open a $30 million line of credit, which Chicago agreed to do.

Convention leadership

On August 8, 2023, convention leadership was announced. Minyon Moore was named the chair of the convention. Alex Hornbrook was named executive director, and Louisa Terrell was named a senior advisor. In his role as senior advisor to the Biden Victory Fund, Roger Lau was assigned an expanded role to provide advice to the convention leadership.

Security

$50million in federal funding was provided for security spending. As a major party presidential nominating convention, the 2024 Democratic National Convention was designated a National Special Security Event. It was the second such event held in Chicago to receive this designation, with the first having been the 2012 NATO Summit. By June 2023, the United States Secret Service had begun collaborating on preparations for the convention with the Chicago Police Department and other police departments that will be involved in convention security.
Protests and demonstrations related to the U.S. government's support for Israel in their invasion of Gaza emerged while the convention was being held. In preparation for the event, party leaders demonstrated confidence in Chicago Police and federal officials to manage protestors, using such methods as drawing set parameters for demonstrations to take place, as well as initiating mass arrests in cases of these regulations being violated. As of April 2024, organizers expected as many as 30,000 protestors in Chicago during the convention. Commentators have drawn comparisons between the 2024 convention and the 1968 convention, also held in Chicago, in which protests opposed to the Vietnam War turned violent when the city utilized extreme levels of police brutality to suppress the protestors.
In May 2024, Politico reported that party leaders were considering limiting in-person gatherings at United Center to primetime sessions only to reduce the possibility of disruption, which would include holding official business to McCormick Place, and retaining elements of 2020's convention.
In light of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July13, the Secret Service secured the United Center and the immediate area surrounding it, and the Chicago Police Department secured everything outside the inner perimeter, with both agencies securing rooftops of all buildings that may have had a line of sight to the United Center.
On August12, the first round of parking restrictions took effect for the DNC in Chicago. Some residents such as people at a senior living apartment complex near major Democratic National Convention sites in Chicago were confused and frustrated with new no-parking zone restrictions outside the Chicago DNC perimeter. They said that no-parking signs had started appearing on their streets, even though they were outside the convention's car-free zones. These residents found it an unwelcome surprise to lose their street parking, which they claimed interfered with their day-to-day lives.
Organizations such as Samidoun, Code Pink, the ANSWER Coalition and several others demonstrated at the convention.