Republican Party eyes Nashville for upcoming convention, will tour the city, Gov. Bill Lee says – Tennessean
The Republican Party is eyeing Nashville as a possible location to host this summer’s Republican National Convention and will tour the city on Thursday, Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday.
The governor’s announcement came hours before President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening that North Carolina would no longer be hosting the RNC.
“Nashville is the best place in America to have a convention,” Lee said, adding that his office has “just begun those conversations” with the RNC.
Lee said hosting the convention in Tennessee would help Nashville and the state’s economy rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We certainly would be interested in welcoming that to our city,” Lee said to reporters at Arnold’s Country Kitchen, a Nashville restaurant where he was announcing new economic relief payments to small businesses. “It would be a great opportunity for us to build upon the economic recovery that’s already occurring.”
Politico first reported that GOP officials are considering Nashville, along with other cities, to host the convention. . The Tennessee Lookout first reported Lee’s interest in the convention.
A spokesperson for Nashville Mayor John Cooper, a Democrat, said the city has not been contacted by the RNC about the convention.
“Of course, we’re not surprised that any national convention would look at us. And we do look forward to seeing our tourism and convention economy thrive again,” Cooper spokesperson Chris Song said by email. “We have no plans to use our limited public funds to recruit this convention at this time. We’re very excited about having the ability to help Belmont host the presidential debate this October.”
Lee said that while his office is in “very early” discussions with the national party, he was informed that they plan to come tour the city Thursday.
Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation, had no additional information to offer on the situation.
“We are aware of the interest from Gov. Lee’s office,” he said in a statement. “We have not had any official contact with the RNC at this time.”
Some Republicans were quick to praise the possibility of the convention coming to Music City — including U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee.
In addition to Nashville, Republicans are looking at Las Vegas, Orlando, Jacksonville and a possible location in Georgia, according to Politico.
Metro Nashville council member Colby Sledge said he will be filing a resolution ahead of the council’s June 16 meeting for Cooper to formally withdrawal Nashville for consideration for the convention.
In North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper wanted Republicans to demonstrate they can safely hold the convention in Charlotte, given the coronavirus pandemic, and said Tuesday the GOP should prepare for a smaller-scale convention.
President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday evening in a series of tweets, where he said Republicans were looking for a new state for their convention and criticized Gov. Cooper for refusing “to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena – Spend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and….then tell them they will not be able to gain entry.”
“Governor Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets. “Would have showcased beautiful North Carolina to the World, and brought in hundreds of…millions of dollars, and jobs, for the State. Because of @NC_Governor, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention.”
USA TODAY contributed.
Published 9:57 PM EDT Jun 2, 2020
