JULY 15, 2022 — Partial success! So many local Nashville Metro Councilmembers publicly opposed the bill to host the 2024 Republican Convention in Nashville its sponsor, Robert Swope, withdrew the legislation at the July 5 meeting rather than bring it to a vote. (Swope is a highly partisan Republican who served on Donald Trump's payroll for more than a year.)
Predictably, the reaction from state Republicans has been intense. They're currently exploring a special session in the TN Legislature to punish Nashville for rejecting the Convention. Unfortunately, as we all know, they have a long history of disrespecting our city's voters through everything from overturning our legislation to taking away seat in the US Congress. But it is in their power to do extreme things that would affect everyone who lives here, which is why it's more important than ever that your Councilmembers hear from you with a message that they should continue to stand up to TNGOP's bullying.
We're told Swope will likely bring the bill forward again, likely at the August 2 meeting. This is really critical, because media reports the RNC can't get the $50 million Federal security grant it needs to host its Convention without an agreement from Metro Council.
Swope has a new editorial in the Tennessean which puts forward a number of questionable assertions. A credible study shows the $200 million figure Nashville would allegedly receive is likely highly inflated and the contract itself plainly states that Nashville would need to pay for expenses related to security and traffic control. Do we really trust Donald Trump, of all people, to see that our city is reimbursed for costs which would run into the tens of millions? Also, Nashville would have to cancel three previously scheduled conventions and the lost business plus funding to turn downtown essentially into an armed camp would likely run around $100 million.
Swope also relies heavily on the assertion that hosting this event would promote Nashville's reputation, which is absurd. We don't need a GOP Convention to draw tourists here, and if anything this Convention will injure Nashville as Donald Trump uses the reputation our heavily Democratic residents have worked to create to market nationalism and white supremacy. Most importantly Swope's piece completely dismisses the very legitimate concerns of Nashvillians who see what today's GOP is capable of in living color through the January 6 Committee Hearings. These people would be staying restriction free in the abundance of short term rental properties throughout our city since TNGOP overturned Nashville's common sense legislation to regulate them.
Late breaking news: An RNC site selection committee has recommended Milwaukee as the site of the Convention. But this is NOT a done deal. The larger RNC body has to approve the plan at a meeting in August. Make those calls y'all!
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