cnn
—
Republican Party officials selected Houston as the site of their party’s 2028 presidential convention, and approved the location during a closed-door meeting Friday.
The announcement is well ahead of the usual schedule for either party when it comes to choosing a city for the convention, and the convention 2024 It won’t happen until July of next year.
“I am pleased to announce that Houston will be the host city for the 2028 Republican National Convention,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “After a smart business decision made by the RNC last spring in allowing us to select the next convention city earlier than ever before, we look forward to seeing Houston in the spotlight in 2028.”
The site’s location is also a bit of a departure from recent convention locations; Milwaukee will host in 2024, while Cleveland hosted the 2016 convention. Wisconsin and Ohio are presidential and congressional battleground states. Meanwhile, Texas is undeniably a reliable Republican-leaning state. (The 2020 convention, held during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, was downsized, with events and gatherings taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Washington, DC, among other places.)
Houston won the convention over four other contenders, including another in Texas, Dallas. The other cities considered were Miami, Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida.
RNC members approved a rule change more than a year ago whereby authorized committee members could begin choosing a convention city six years from now.
This story has been updated with additional reports.