Metro Council will vote on agreement to host 2024 RNC in Nashville

Metro Council will vote on an ordinance approving a contract to host the 2024 Republican National Convention in Nashville on Tuesday. Councilmen Robert Swope is sponsoring it. While it doesn’t guarantee the RNC will pick Nashville, it does signal to the national party that they’d be welcome here.

Swope, who ran former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Tennessee, is joined by Republican leaders in the state who are also eager to host the convention. Gov. Bill Lee called it a “tremendous economic opportunity,” while House Speaker Cameron Sexton says he’d be in favor of using state funds to help Nashville cover the costs.

But the ordinance has received significant pushback in the last week. Metro Councilmen Bob Mendes says downtown is already “jam packed with people” and that the convention could increase the “risk of violence.”

Mendes pointed to current polarization and extremist elements within the GOP who backed the Jan. 6 insurrection as cause for concern. He said division in the country could lead to the type of violence once seen at the Democratic National Convention in 1968. That convention, hosted in Chicago, was marked by violence between anti-Vietnam war protesters and police. Hundreds were injured and one person died.

Mayor John Cooper, a Democrat, has not spoken for or against the ordinance, but previously said there’s no financial benefit for the city to host the convention.

The RNC is also considering Milwaukee as a candidate, and could make a decision later this year.