GOP Selects Cleveland Over Dallas As 2016 GOP Convention City

By Gregory Barber

Published July 8, 2014 at 1:22 PM EDT

The downtown Cleveland skyline on a clear day. The city was selected Tuesday as the recommended location of the Republican National Convention in 2016.

The Republican Party will hold its 2016 presidential convention in Cleveland, GOP chairman Reince Priebus announced Tuesday.

The GOP chose to locate its nominating event in an expected 2016 battleground state rather than in Dallas, Texas, the sole remaining competitor after Denver and Kansas City were eliminated from consideration in late June.

The Cleveland selection means a continued dry spell for solidly red states, which haven't hosted a Republican National Convention since delegates gathered in Houston's Astrodome in 1992.

After footing a portion of the tab for the past two conventions, in Tampa, Fla., and St. Paul, Minn., the national committee had been adamant that its decision for 2016 would be primarily a business one — centering on a host city's ability to pay. The projected costs for the event are about $60 million.

Cleveland had also put forward a bid for the Democratic National Convention, but according to Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Lily Adams, the city won't be getting a rare one-two punch, not seen since Miami played host to both major parties in 1972.

That's due to an exclusivity clause in the bidding process for the Democratic convention, she said, which will be triggered when the city signs its contract with the RNC.

Ohio, however, still remains a possibility for the Democrats: Columbus is among the five remaining cities with bids, along with Philadelphia, New York, Birmingham, and Phoenix.

The RNC is expected to officially ratify Cleveland as its choice during the committee's general body meeting in early August.