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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is reportedly among the finalists to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Politico reported Friday that Salt Lake City is on the party's shortlist, along with Milwaukee, Nashville and Pittsburgh, citing a source close to the search process. Houston, Las Vegas, San Antonio and Kansas City, Missouri were reportedly dropped from consideration for the event.
The 2024 convention is where members of the party will select their candidate for the next presidential election. Of the remaining host candidates, Salt Lake City and Nashville, the outlet points out, are in solid Republican stronghold states, while Milwaukee and Pittsburgh are located in recent swing states.
Milwaukee and Nashville are also in the running to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Utah Republican Party officials said in October that they would submit a bid to host the event, after failing to bring in the 2012 and 2016 events. They coordinated the bid effort with Visit Salt Lake, the organization that promotes tourism in Salt Lake County.
Utah Republican Party Chairman Carson Jorgensen told KSL.com at that time that he believes hosting the event could generate as much as $200 million for the state's economy, and cited the city's growth as a reason why he believes the city could be selected this time around.
The new Salt Lake City International Airport, which has the capability of handling more people, opened in 2020. The Concourse A-East construction project to add 22 more gates is expected to wrap up in 2024.
The Hyatt Regency Convention Center Hotel, an addition to the Salt Palace Convention Center, is also currently on schedule to open in late 2022. It's expected to add 700 new hotel rooms and 60,000 square feet of more meeting space downtown.
"The party supports this and the state would really love to see it here," Jorgensen said. "I think Utah has an extremely good shot at making this happen."
It's not clear when the Republican Party will announce its selection for the 2024 event. However, Politico reports that the Republican National Committee will be in Salt Lake City next month for its annual winter meeting.
