HOUSTON - Houston is now on a very short list of potential cities to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted early Wednesday that there were four candidates left, but organizers in Denver later confirmed they withdrew their bid - leaving just Miami, Milwaukee and Houston.
Earlier this month the Houston City Council voted to pledge first responders, traffic control, and other resources for the convention.
Houston last hosted the DNC in 1928 and the Republican National Convention in 1992. Now, with the Toyota Center, Convention Center, and extra hotel rooms built ahead of the Super Bowl, Mayor Sylvester Turner says the city is ready again.
The mayor emphasized the convention will be “cost neutral” for the city due to reimbursement from Department of Justice grants, the state’s Major Events Fund, and committee fundraising.
Council members said the convention could be especially beneficial for hotels and tourist-dependent businesses during the typically slow summer months.
The Democratic National Committee will pick the DNC 2020 convention host city in January 2019.