Chicago DNC organizers hold pep rally with 10 days left before the convention
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Democratic National Convention is just 10 days away from kicking off in Chicago.
Organizers and public officials held a pep rally on Friday at the John Hancock building amid the final push of excitement ahead of the convention. Gov. JB Pritzker said he was looking forward to pulling off a historic convention.
The organizers said the pep rally was a way to kick things off as a toast to the collective effort that brought them to this point. Choose Chicago and the DNC Chicago host committee helped organize the rally.
The committee was in charge of making sure people and businesses across Illinois had the opportunity to benefit from the DNC being in Chicago. On Friday, they announced $150,000 in student scholarship programs.
Many speakers, including Pritzker, said Chicago's landscape of diversity and hospitality are some of the reasons it was chosen as the city to host the convention.
"We're just 10 days away and honestly, this is going to be a truly historic adventure," Pritzker said. "And it's for a lot of reasons that have already been mentioned, but you know, we're about to host the most energized convention ever in the history of political conventions."
The governor, state lawmakers, the city's chief operating officer and other city leaders said they felt more than prepared to host the DNC.
"We're a city filled with people who are incredibly proud of what the city stands for," Pritzker said. "Because here in Chicago and across Illinois, we've shown what it looks like when Democrats deliver."
Organizers at the rally said it's taken so much to build to the start of the convention. They were looking forward to keeping the momentum going as the city inches closer to Aug. 19.