Democrats set date for 2020 nominating convention
The Democratic National Committee plans to hold its presidential nominating contention from July 13 to July 16, 2020, a move announced more than two years in advance in hopes of managing what is expected to be a chaotic and wide-open contest to take on President Trump.
By tradition, the party out of the White House holds its nominating convention first and must set its date before the incumbent party. In this case, Democrats are opting to hold their convention just before the 2020 Summer Olympics, which are scheduled to begin in Tokyo on July 24, 2020. Scheduling the convention before the summer games is a break from the norm as the two major political parties usually wait until after the Olympics and enjoy a bit of a breather with the nation's attention focused on sporting events.
In a statement, DNC Chairman Tom Perez said the party "is committed to organizing everywhere, and holding the convention in mid-July allows us to continue our work doing exactly that. My priority is to ensure that the 2020 nominating process is the most open, fair, transparent and inclusive in our party's history. That is exactly why the DNC has started this process early and before we have a full slate of candidates running for president. This will not only allow for a unified party, but will ensure that our nominee is in the strongest position to take on Donald Trump or whoever the Republican nominee may be."
Perez consulted with top party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-New York, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California. As part of his ongoing work to overhaul the party's presidential nomination process, Perez is pushing for changes that would deplete the power of "superdelegates," or top party luminaries and elected officials who get to cast ballots for the party's presidential nominee.
A proposal set to be approved by party leaders in early August would keep superdelegates as unpledged to any particular candidate, but not allow them to vote in the first round of balloting at the convention. Doing so would put an emphasis on rank-and-file delegates – mostly activists from the states and territories. Making the change would appease the concerns of supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who complained that Hillary Clinton enjoyed an unfair advantage because of her close ties to top party leaders.
Aides said Friday that the party reserves the right to reschedule the convention if some unforeseen circumstance arises. A host city for the convention will not be announced for several more months. Eight cities are vying to host the party meetings: Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; Denver; Houston; Miami Beach; Milwaukee; New York; and San Francisco.
News of the convention dates was first reported by CNN.
