MILWAUKEE — With less than a year to go, those working behind the scenes to get Milwaukee ready to host the 2024 Republican National Convention next summer have been busy figuring out transportation, security and hotels for the tens of thousands expected to attend.
It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the first Republican presidential primary debate held in Milwaukee in August was a sort of practice run for the Republican nominating convention next summer.
“The ability to do the debate in Fiserv [Forum], and actually see the arena all lit up for the debate, and to work with the team over there, that doesn’t happen every convention, so it was a phenomenal opportunity,” Anne Hathaway, who serves as chairwoman of the Party’s Committee on Arrangements, which oversees organizing the 2024 RNC, explained.
The debate also provided the opportunity to work with local and state law enforcement.
“We came away with a ‘without incident’ report from the locals, which is really encouraging,” Hathaway added. “It means that the systems that have been put in place worked well.”
When it comes to working with Wisconsin hotels, Hathaway said the party is 80% to its goal, with more accommodations needed.
“We’re getting to the final stages of getting those booked so that we can match them up with our delegation,” Hathaway said.
With downtown Milwaukee having such a large footprint, Hathaway admitted one of the biggest challenges will be transportation to allow everybody to be successful and safe.
“We want to maximize the opportunity to use the hotels, the restaurants, the businesses, and make sure that they benefit from having us here, but also obviously to protect, so we have to really think through our transportation routes and our secure zones,” Hathaway explained.