Cleveland and Dallas have made the cut for the 2016 Republican National Convention, the party announced Wednesday, while Denver and Kansas City are out.
The winnowing leaves GOP leaders to choose between staging the big event in a Democratic-leaning city in the key presidential battleground state of Ohio or going deep in the heart of Texas, where George W. Bush and some of the party’s deepest-pocketed donors live.
A decision is expected in August, and it could be dictated less by optics than logistics. Conventions are very expensive affairs to put on, and Congress has made clear that the parties can’t count on federal matching dollars they’ve received in the past. That means a city may need to to cough up tens of millions of dollars to prevail. The inventory of event space and hotel rooms and ability to provide security for 50,000 visitors are also key.
