Georgia Democrats reportedly were angry that Atlanta was snubbed for Chicago as the Democratic National Committee's pick for the 2024 convention.
"It feels a little bit like a slap in the face," one Georgia Democratic operative told The Hill. "You know, there’s a lot that goes into this — hotels and transportation and all that. But there’s the symbolism to consider too, and I think it would have been a strong statement to say, ‘Hey, Georgia has delivered for us, and we’re not taking that for granted.’"
The party reportedly secured $20 million in financial commitments from donors and corporations for the DNC to be hosted in Atlanta, arguing that Georgia, which has become a key battleground state in recent years, played a critical role in securing Democratic power in Washington, D.C. The chair of the Georgia Democratic Party, Rep. Nikema Williams, said that she was disappointed that Atlanta had been overlooked, but she said her state would "remain the center of the political universe in 2024."
"Driven by the strength of our richly diverse coalition of voters, Georgia has become the country’s premier battleground state, delivering historic wins for Democrats and changing the trajectory of our entire nation," Williams said. "Georgia represents the future of the Democratic Party — and we will continue to invest in that future by working to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in 2024."
DNC TO HOLD 2024 CONVENTION IN CHICAGO
More than 65 current and former Democratic federal, state and local officials in the South told President Biden in a January letter that "everything we have accomplished as a party since January of 2021 can be traced back to Georgia, and specifically, to the metro Atlanta area which swung the state in our favor."
"Democratic turnout in the state of Georgia is the single greatest reason that you and Vice President Harris are in the White House today instead of Donald Trump, and it is the single greatest reason why Democrats have maintained a majority in the United States Senate," the letter reportedly said.
The back to back wins for U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats representing Georgia, secured the party's control of the upper chamber of Congress. Biden also carried Georgia during the 2020 election, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has won the Peach State since 1992.
"In 2020 and again in 2022, Georgia proved our status as a key battleground state, and any candidate, campaign or political party should keep that in mind as we head into next year," Kendra Cotton, the CEO of the New Georgia Project Action Fund, told The Hill, adding that she was "disappointed" over the DNC's Chicago pick.
The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that it would host the 2024 convention in Chicago. At a press conference Wednesday. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who vowed contribute to some of the convention costs, which could run as high as $90 million, described Chicago as the "ideal" location for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
"A convention in Chicago, the center of the blue wall of key states like Wisconsin and Michigan and Minnesota, will show that Democrats don’t take this region for granted, that this is key to victory in 2024," Pritzker said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "Illinois is home to a bustling metropolis, a strong rural tradition, thriving suburbs, not to mention a long-standing history rooted in civil rights and workers’ rights and reproductive rights."
The AFL-CIO advocated in a letter to Democratic senior leadership against hosting the convention in Atlanta, citing the lack of union-backed hotels to lodge attendees.
"This is nowhere near enough to meet delegates’ needs. Union delegates and guests who choose union hotels as a matter of conscience would need to compete over limited rooms. Not every state delegate and visitor who wanted to show labor solidarity would be able to do so," the letter reads. "We are proud to represent members in Georgia and recognize the great cultural and political value of Atlanta, as well as the civil rights legacy and ongoing work for racial justice being led by activists throughout the state. But the importance of having many union hotels for a Democratic convention is well known, and the city has done nothing during its long convention bid to address the problem."
The union received pushback for the letter, including from one Democrat charging that the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union, is "punishing people who work really hard for the Democratic Party" because the largely Republican run state legislature "has really crushed the union movement."
"To say that because the city of Atlanta didn’t do enough to magically create unions or union hotels overnight, that they should be disqualified, it’s just insulting," that Georgia Democrat told The Hill. "It’s insulting to organizers across the South who live in states where Republicans want to destroy the union movement."
