CHICAGO (AP) — Members of the Republican National Committee have unanimously voted to hold the party’s 2016 national convention in Cleveland.
That now puts pressure on the host organizing committee to come up with the $60 million it promised Republicans to cover some of the convention costs. But there’s no deadline for Cleveland to do so.
It will be the first time Cleveland has hosted a national convention since 1936. The city was a finalist for the 2012 Republican convention, which was held in Tampa, but it lost that bid because it lacked enough hotel rooms close to the convention site. There’s been a flurry of hotel construction and renovation in Cleveland in the last several years.
One of the reasons Cleveland was selected was because the party chairman wanted an earlier-than-normal starting date. The convention could begin as soon as June 28.
Given the abysmal record of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, a June start did not seem a problem when the organizing committee voted for Cleveland last month. But that was before LeBron James announced he would be returning to the Cavaliers, a move that makes the team one of the favorites to reach the NBA finals. The NBA finals typically have concluded around June 20, and the league requires teams to keep their arenas available until the playoffs are concluded.
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