Southern Democrats are furious over their party’s decision to hold its 2024 national convention in Chicago instead of Atlanta, seeing the move as minor against a city and state that helped give Democrats both the White House and their current Senate majority delivery.
Leading up to the decision, Atlanta’s boosters aggressively lobbied President Biden and his allies for hosting rights, played up the city as the cradle of the civil rights movement, and hammered out the importance of Georgia — and the South more broadly — as a critical emerging battleground for Democrats.
However, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Tuesday that Chicago would host the 2024 gathering, which a liberal city near the center of the so-called “Blue Wall” states in the upper Midwest will rise up and side with union leaders, those were Atlanta as the venue because of Georgia’s controversial history with organized labor.
“It feels a bit like a slap in the face,” said a Georgia Democrat official. “You know, there’s a lot that goes into that — hotels and transportation and all that. But there’s also the symbolism to consider, and I think it would have been a strong statement to say, ‘Hey, Georgia delivered for us, and we don’t take that for granted.’”
The Democratic National Committee’s decision to move the convention to Chicago was a major blow to Georgia Democrats, who in the days leading up to the announcement thought Atlanta was the favorite to host the quadrennial convention.
For months, Atlanta boosters worked to reassure Biden and Democratic officials that the city was prepared for the event. They secured more than $20 million in financial pledges from donors and companies, and relied heavily on the argument that it was Georgia that handed the Democrats their current power in Washington.
A January letter to Biden from more than 65 current and former Democratic federal, state and local officials in the South made that point clear, telling the President that “everything we have accomplished as a party since January 2021 can be traced back to it Georgia, and particularly the Atlanta metro area, which has tipped the state in our favor.”
“Georgia’s Democratic turnout is the number one reason you and Vice President Harris are replacing Donald Trump in the White House today, and it’s the number one reason Democrats have retained a majority in the United States Senate,” he said the letter said.
In fact, it was the back-to-back victories of Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in Georgia just over two years ago that handed control of the Senate to Democrats. Georgia also helped bring Biden to the White House in 2020, which was the first time a Democratic presidential nominee had taken over the state since 1992.
“We won three Senate seats in two years. We’re doing the work, and we need the Democratic Party to just get out of this mindset that the South is that kind of bastion of conservatism when it’s not at all,” said a Georgia Democrat.
Kendra Cotton, the CEO of the New Georgia Project Action Fund, said she was “disappointed” with the decision to move Congress to Chicago, especially given the pivotal role Georgia played in Biden’s 2020 presidential bid.
“In 2020 and again in 2022, Georgia has demonstrated our status as a key battleground state, and every candidate, campaign or political party should keep that in mind as we move into next year,” Cotton said.
One of the obstacles to Atlanta’s selection was lobbying by the AFL-CIO to pass the city on and writing a letter to DNC leadership arguing that the city had too few union-backed hotels to host the convention with two “upscale” hotels.
“This is far from enough to meet the needs of delegates. Union delegates and conscientious guests choosing union hotels would have to compete for limited rooms. Not every state delegate and visitor who wanted to show workers’ solidarity would be able to do so,” the letter says, which also describes the price range of the hotels as a burden for some.
“We are proud to represent members in Georgia and recognize Atlanta’s great cultural and political value, civil rights legacy and the ongoing racial justice work led by activists across the state. But the importance of having plenty of union hotels for a Democrat convention is well known, and the city has done nothing to address the issue during its lengthy bid for the convention.”
That drew anger from Georgians, who say the union has undermined a state where Democrats have made significant state-level gains under largely Republican leadership.
“It feels really disingenuous because you’re punishing people who work really hard for the Democratic Party because their state has really crushed the union movement,” said the Georgia Democrat. “And to say that because the city of Atlanta hasn’t done enough to magically create unions or union hotels overnight, they should be disqualified is just plain insulting.” It’s an insult to organizers across the South who live in states where Republicans want to destroy unionism.”
“How are we going to build a union movement in the south when union organizers are refusing national events where we can build this network? It really is a double standard.”
The AFL-CIO declined to comment.
There were other factors urging Democratic leaders to Chicago: the city’s proximity to the “blue wall,” the United Center and its nearby hotels and restaurants, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s (D) promise on pay help with congressional expenses, which could cost up to $90 million.
Despite disappointment from Georgia, Democrats vowed to go ahead, insisting the Chicago convention would not change the course of their work in Georgia. Following Tuesday’s announcement, Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), leader of the state’s Democratic Party, said she was disappointed with the decision but believed Georgia “will remain at the center of the political universe in 2024.” become”.
“Powered by the strength of our diverse coalition of voters, Georgia has emerged as the country’s leading battleground state, delivering historic victories for Democrats and changing the course of our entire nation,” she said. “Georgia represents the future of the Democratic Party – and we will continue to invest in that future as we work to vote Democrats up and down in 2024.”
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Originally published Apr 13, 2023 5:00 p.m