CNN
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Republican Party officials have chosen Houston to host their party’s 2028 presidential convention, confirming the location during a closed-door meeting on Friday.
The announcement is well ahead of the usual schedule for both sides in choosing a convention city, and the 2024 convention won’t take place until July of next year.
“I am pleased to announce Houston as the host city for the 2028 Republican National Convention,” Republican National Committee Chair Rona McDaniel said in a statement. “After a smart business decision by the RNC last spring to allow us to choose the next convention city earlier than ever, we look forward to putting Houston in the spotlight in 2028.”
The site’s location is a bit far from recent convention venues; Milwaukee will host in 2024, while Cleveland was the site of the 2016 convention. Wisconsin and Ohio are traditional battleground states, although Ohio has shifted to the right since 2016. Texas, meanwhile, is an undeniably Republican-leaning state. (The 2020 conference was held during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, with events and meetings held in Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington, DC.)
Houston won the conference over four other rivals, including Dallas, Texas. Other cities under consideration are Miami, Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida.
A year ago, RNC members approved a rule change that would allow accredited committee members to choose a convention city within six years.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
