Denver’s plea to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention continued on Wednesday, as Mayor Mike Johnston, Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Democratic Party hosted national party chair Ken Martin.
Denver is a top five finalist to host the 2028 DNC, competing against Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.
“Look, in 2028, Democrats will gather at the national convention to reaffirm the core principles of our party and nominate the next president of the United States of America,” Martin said at a press conference. “We are grateful to Denver for its interest in hosting this historic moment. Hosting a national convention, of course, can be a great economic boom for any city.”
The DNC is held every four years to officially nominate the party’s presidential candidate and rally Democrats from across the country ahead of the election. This year's convention will be from Aug. 7-10, 2028.
“This is a state that we've successfully shown not only Democrats win and continue to win, but we're governing effectively,” Polis said during the conference.
This is the third finalist city the DNC has visited, Martin said. No decision timeline is currently available.
20 years since the last time Denver hosted
The last time Denver hosted the DNC was 2008, when former President Barack Obama accepted the party's presidential nomination.
“I think that Denver has such a wonderful, eclectic group of people, caring, smart, energetic, really innovative, and I hope it becomes reality,” said Terry Ramos, a resident who attended Wednesday’s press conference. “For us, 2008 was something special, and we're hoping to get something special again.”
A huge theme of Obama’s campaign was hope, something Johnston wants to bring back.
“This city and the ‘08 convention made famous the idea of hope and change,” Johnston said. “As we think about this coming convention, it is true that often hope inspires change, but it is more profoundly true that change drives hope. And what fundamentally Americans want to see right now is that we find ourselves the most frustrated when you expect something to get fixed and it doesn't win.”
