It’s official, Birmingham is out of the running for the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
In May, media outlets reported the DNC narrowed down potential host cities to Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Miami Beach, Milwaukee, New York, and San Francisco.
But the mayor’s office said Birmingham never submitted a bid for consideration.
“We were honored to receive the encouragement from (Democratic Party) Chairman Tom Perez and Deputy Chairman Rep. Keith Ellison to submit a proposal for Birmingham to host the DNC in 2020,” Rick Journey, director of communications for Mayor Randall Woodfin, told AL.com in an email. “After a closer look, we recognized the huge amount of resources needed to prepare the city to be competitive in the selection process, and successful if we were to be selected as the host.
“At this time, we have determined that we must keep our focus first and foremost on our priorities to the people of Birmingham through neighborhood revitalization, workforce development and business growth,” he added.
In 2016, the city spent $275,000 to hire a team of consultants to organize and promote the its convention bid. Ultimately Philadelphia was chosen.
POLITICO reported on Wednesday the DNC narrowed its 2020 convention locations to Houston, Miami Beach, Milwaukee and Denver. Since that time, Denver has withdrawn its bid.
The convention is scheduled for July 13-16, 2020.
The site selection committee is expected to visit Houston, Miami Beach, Milwaukee over the summer and announce the host city this fall or early in 2019.
