The Republican National Committee on Friday will officially designate Milwaukee as the host city for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominating convention. The vote by all 168 RNC committee members will take place as the national party committee holds its final meeting of its annual summer meeting, which is being held this year in Chicago. “We’re very excited for Milwaukee,” RNC Chairwoman Rona McDaniel said in an interview with Fox News Digital on the eve of the vote. Milwaukee and Nashville, Tennessee, were the final two cities among a long list of early contenders to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. But the Tennessee capital fell out of contention Tuesday night as the Nashville Metro Council voted a draft agreement to host the convention. NASHVILLE VOTES DOWN HOLDING 2024 CONVENTION, LEAVING MILWUAKEE AS LAST CITY STANDING Officials in Milwaukee display a mock-up of the 2024 GOP presidential nominating convention. The Republican National Committee on Friday, August 5, 2022, will officially name Milwaukee as the 2024 host city. (RNC/Milwuakee 2024 Host Committee) Milwaukee passed its draft resolution in June, and two weeks ago the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) Site Selection Committee — which oversees planning for the 2024 convention — recommended Milwaukee over Nashville. The two national parties often hold their caucuses in competitive general election states. While Tennessee is a reliably red state in presidential contests, Wisconsin is a key battleground state. “It’s a purple state,” McDaniel said of Wisconsin. “They’re exactly the voters we’re trying to bring to our party, and they’ve done such a great job. We’re excited not only to elect our next president from Milwaukee as a Republican, but we’re excited to represent it as a great city and a great state.” . Democratic National Committee officials continue to visit cities hoping to host the 2024 Democratic presidential nominating convention. The DNC may announce its choice when it holds its annual summer meeting in early September. DEMOCRATS DELAY DECISION ON CHANGING 2024 PRIMARY SCHEDULE The full RNC membership in April voted unanimously to make no changes to the 2024 presidential nominating calendar, keeping Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada as the four early voting states. The DNC is in the process of revamping its nominating calendar, with the possibility that Iowa – and possibly New Hampshire – could lose their favorite seats. Republicans in both states have used the DNC’s move as ammunition against Democrats seeking re-election in November in hotly contested contests. The Iowa Caucuses is on display at the Iowa State Historical Museum on January 15, 2020. (Fox News) When asked if the DNC’s move could hurt Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire, which are key battleground states for the general election, McDaniel told Fox News “we recognize there’s a story there, that the voters are very tuned in . Retail is the key to winning the nomination in both of those states … we’re very proud that we kept our calendar the same. I hope people in those states recognize that the Democrats just left their states.” While the 2024 election is on the agenda at the RNC meeting, uppermost in many minds are the November midterms. Democrats face historic headwinds, as the party that wins the White House and control of Congress traditionally suffers major setbacks in the House and Senate in subsequent midterm elections. They also face a very adverse political climate, fueled by record inflation and skyrocketing crime, and symbolized by President Biden’s deeply negative approval ratings. McDaniel said RNC committee members are “very confident, very excited, even more so when we look at the candidates that we have … as we come out of these primaries and really come together to prepare to win in November.” DEMOCRATS SPEND MILLIONS THIS WEEK TARGETING DEMO CANDIDATES ON ABORTION But highlighting the issues of gun violence, following a series of high-profile mass shootings in recent months, and abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority’s move to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which sent the issue of abortion regulation back in the states. Democrats see an energized electorate that will help them defy the current expectations of political forecasters. Signs for and against the Kansas Constitutional Amendment on abortion are displayed off Kansas State Highway 10 on August 1, 2022, in Lenexa, Kansas. (Kyle Rivas/Getty Images) Democrats were further galvanized by Tuesday’s resounding victory in Kansas by pro-choice activists — the first vote on legalized abortion since the high court’s blockbuster ruling. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP When asked about the Democrats’ full-court press for seizing the midterm abortion issue, McDaniel argued “Democrats have a problem with inflation, with gas prices, with baby formula still missing, with open borders, with the drug crisis. I know they want to make this a big issue, but the American people every day, when they go to the grocery store, when they go to the gas pump, realize what the Democrat policies are doing to their pocketbook, and there will be problems with the pocketbook. the number one issue in November.’ Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
