The Republican National Convention announced Thursday that it will be moving its convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville.
Before the pandemic, Charlotte was to host the RNC. But post-pandemic crowd plans posed planning problems for Trump and RNC officials. Unable to come to an agreement, the RNC is moving the convention to Jacksonville, which is reportedly more accommodating. Some RNC business will still take place in Charlotte in order to fulfill contractual obligations.
The WSJ has the full story:
The Republican National Convention will move its marquee events to Jacksonville, Fla., organizers said, ending weeks of uncertainty after President Trump battled with the governor of North Carolina over social distancing precautions that could have limited crowd size.The task of nominating the party’s candidates for president and vice president will be done in Charlotte, N.C., with a limited number of delegates, but the big convention events—chiefly Mr. Trump’s acceptance speech—will shift to Jacksonville, which raced to put together a proposal and overcame concerns about hotel and arena capacity.
The convention will be held Aug. 24-27, according to people familiar with the planning. It places Mr. Trump in the most prized swing state, which has 29 electoral votes and which he narrowly won in 2016….Charlotte was selected as host in July 2018, besting Las Vegas, and preparation for a 50,000-person event was well under way. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. RNC officials and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper recently exchanged letters over measures that would be taken to protect convention attendees. But they didn’t reach a resolution, as Mr. Trump insisted on a full-capacity audience. The RNC will conduct some limited business in Charlotte as it has a signed contract with the city.
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