MILWAUKEE — Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has played an outspoken and prominent role in the efforts to help bring the Republican National Convention to Milwaukee in 2024, which is up against Nashville, Tennessee as a finalist competing for the bid.
Walker is among a group of high-profile Republicans, including former Trump White House Chief of Staff and previous RNC chairman Reince Priebus, to host the selection committee when it visited Milwaukee in February.
The Republican National Committee heard final pitches from both cities during a meeting in Washington, D.C. last week, which Walker also participated in remotely from President Reagan's Rancho del Cielo in California.
You can watch Spectrum News 1 Political Reporter Anthony DaBruzzi's interview with Walker above, and read below for the main reasons why the former Republican governor thinks Wisconsin is likely to win the bid.
First and foremost, Walker believes that a national committee, like the DNC, having previously picked Milwaukee as a convention host city in 2020 continues to make it an attractive choice.
“The fact that it's turnkey I think gives Milwaukee, in this instance, a huge advantage,” Walker explained. “All other things being equal, we think actually Milwaukee makes a better case than any of the other finalists. But even if they're all considered equal, why wouldn't you pick a city and a state that will make a difference?”
Walker said there's plenty of corporate community support, the fire and police departments have proven they can handle an event of that size and with ample lodging and catering available, Milwaukee is already prepared to host.
Having the infrastructure already in place to handle a major political convention is one thing, but Walker believes Fiserv Forum, specifically, is uniquely equipped to offer the type of resources the party needs, which is something Reince Priebus also highlighted during the site team's visit.
“Because it's so new and so well built, that connecting 5G, as an example, to the convention goers is already included in the current Fiserv Forum plan versus years ago when they were in Cleveland, for example, in the 2016 cycle,” Walker said. “They actually had to pay about a million dollars to bring that upgrade into the arena.”
Those capabilities, paired with Wisconsin being a state that could influence which way the election goes in 2024, make it a frontrunner in Walker's opinion.
It's no secret that Wisconsin is a battleground state. President Joe Biden won the Badger State by less than a percentage over Trump, who won it by almost the same margin against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
That's a stark contrast from Tennessee, which hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1996.
“I love the people of Tennessee, but that state is so red, it didn't even go for Al Gore when he ran for president more than two decades ago,” Walker said. “And so that's a state that's always, I think short of an absolute catastrophe, going to go solidly for whoever the Republicans nominate in 2024. Whereas we know in Wisconsin, it's completely up for grabs. You could go either way, as we saw in 2016 and 2020.”
Walker feels as though Milwaukee, and Wisconsin more broadly, are a city and a state that could make a difference.
“With the city of Milwaukee in particular, yeah it's traditionally a Democrat city, but it's blue-collar, it's winnable,” Walker said. “Tommy Thompson carried the city when he was governor. I carried the city when I ran for county executive. It's a place, clearly, where we can make some inroads.”