NATIONWIDE — President Donald Trump will accept the Republican nomination in Jacksonville, Florida, while “official business” will be conducted in Charlotte, North Carolina, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Thursday.


What You Need To Know


Charlotte was initially set to host the 2020 Republican National Convention in its entirety. but a disagreement between President Trump and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper over COVID-19 safety measures changed the RNC's course.

Jacksonville beat out other cities, including Orlando, Nashville, and Las Vegas.

“At the end of the day, Jacksonville was the right selection because you need both local cooperation and state cooperation, and Jacksonville you have a mayor who was willing to work with the RNC,” said Florida State Sen. Joe Gruters, who serves as Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

Gruters told Spectrum News that each state will send six delegates to Charlotte to carry out “official party business,” while the majority of delegates and supporters will gather in Jacksonville.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled for August 24 through August 27.

Conventions typically take more than two years to plan, and Jacksonville will have just two months to organize a multi-day event.

“We want Jacksonville to be the full delegate convention-type experience that you would experience anyway. It’s going to be several day event, we’re going to have multiple speakers where we’ll outline the vision for America the president has for America, including how to get out of the crisis we’re in and get the economy back on track,” Gruters said.

The shifted RNC in Jacksonville will culminate with President Donald Trump’s formal nomination and acceptance speech at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.

Capacity of the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena is approximately 15,000.

A typical convention can draw 40,000 – 50,000 people, but Gruters predicted coronavirus-related precautions will likely mean about 25,000 people will be able to attend the RNC events.

The party has already reserved 10,000 area hotel rooms.

“What we’re going to be able to do is say listen Florida is open for business, this is going to showcase it in a way people will be able to look at this, not only around America, but around the world and say we want to come back to Florida soon,” Gruters said.

The party conventions are traditionally where Republicans and Democrats cement their platform of issues along with nominating their respective candidates for President and Vice President.

Jacksonville will become Florida’s third city to host a major political convention.

Miami Beach hosted the Republican National Convention in 1968 and the Democratic National Convention in 1972, while Tampa hosted the 2012 Republican National Convention.

While Republicans say they’re eager to host the event in Florida, Democratic leaders say it too will show why the president has failed the nation, and why they say Joe Biden should be elected.

“We need to get back to a sense of normalcy in America where every day isn’t another crisis,” said Democratic Congressman Darren Soto of Kissimmee. “There’s a lot of unease over the terrible handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Trump administration. We’ve seen a poor response from the president, particularly with protests after the murder of George Floyd and people are upset and they want stability again.”

Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo released the following statement on the relocation: "I am deeply concerned that the impetus for moving their highest profile event to Florida was because Donald Trump wanted to give a speech to a crowd of people not social distancing -- and, given his previous public events, likely not wearing masks."

Florida is a state President Trump won by just 1.2% of the vote in 2016. The gubernatorial and senate races in 2018 were even more narrow as Nikki Fried also earned a sole statewide seat for the Democratic party as Agriculture Commission.

The stakes of 2020 will continue to ensure Florida remains a focal point for campaigns in the months to come. President Trump has already said he plans to hold a rally in the near future in Florida.