PITTSBURGH (TNS) — In letters to the Republican National Committee, top officials from Allegheny County — including Pittsburgh’s new mayor and the county executive — put their support behind a bid by a city tourism agency to bring the GOP’s rambunctious, high-profile nominating convention to the city in 2024.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, a Democrat, wrote to the committee’s chairwoman to convey his support of wrangling the RNC to town, an effort that — if successful — would bring thousands of Republicans, staffers and media members to the city for several days.
”Pittsburgh is a world-class city primed for economic recovery and downtown revitalization as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gainey wrote in his letter, addressed to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Gainey jumped on board the effort — led by tourism hub VisitPittsburgh — less than a week after being sworn-in as mayor, joining a number of officials who had already tried to entice the GOP in recent months to the state’s second largest city. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, also a Democrat, sent a letter of his own in November, county officials said Saturday.
Their pitches may be working; Politico reported late last week that the GOP’s national apparatus had narrowed the list to four cities: Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Nashville and Salt Lake City.
The outlet cited a person familiar with the search process, and wrote that committee officials are planning to visit each of the four locations over the coming months before they make a final decision in the spring.
The RNC did not respond to a request for comment, but the letters suggest that local officials are vying for what would be a huge boon to the economy.
In his pitch, Gainey said Pittsburgh is known for hard work, talent and “picturesque views,” while its residents are welcoming and inclusive.
”Our robust economy is led by technology and innovation, healthcare, and education,” Gainey wrote. “The Republican National Convention would assist in building upon these great sectors of our economy with a direct infusion of over $200 million into our local economy supporting Pittsburgh’s incredible local businesses.”
Fitzgerald, in his letter dated Nov. 18, described Pittsburgh and Allegheny County as a “major meeting destination” with “fantastic and affordable accommodations,” boasting of the number of hotel rooms available — a little over 18,000 — and its food scene, Cultural District and economy.
”Perhaps just as importantly for the site committee, Pittsburgh is conveniently located and easily reached by air, car and train,” Fitzgerald wrote, bragging that the city is within 500 miles of nearly half the country’s population and within a six-hour car or train ride from 10 states and the nation’s capital.
In choosing a site for a party convention, Republicans and Democrats have historically chosen cities that are as accessible for their logistical needs as they are politically important. Pittsburgh is the second largest city in a swing state that helped deliver Joe Biden the presidency in 2020 and Donald Trump victory four years earlier.
Neither of the party’s conventions have ever been held in Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia has been the site of two conventions this century; Republicans gathered there in 2000 to nominate the George W. Bush and Dick Cheney ticket, and Democrats took over the Wells Fargo Center in 2016 to coronate Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.
