GOP committee recommends Milwaukee host 2024 Republican National Convention

(CNN) — Milwaukee’s Democratic mayor says he is ready to welcome Republicans with open arms during the next presidential election after a GOP committee voted Friday to recommend the city as the site of the 2024 Republican National Convention.

“I don’t agree with everything in the Republicans’ platform. I disagree with the party’s stance on a huge range of issues,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said during a news conference. “That being said, Republicans will host the convention somewhere in the United States in two years. I want the economic benefits.”

The committee’s recommendation still must be approved by the full Republican National Committee at its meeting next month in Chicago. Milwaukee was the official host city of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, but most speakers participated remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including then-presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Richard Walters, RNC senior adviser, said in a statement Friday that the committee’s vote was “a testament to the forthright and professional behavior embraced by Milwaukee’s city leaders throughout the process.”

As CNN previously reported, the RNC had narrowed down the 2024 convention site to two cities, Milwaukee and Nashville, with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel having traveled to Milwaukee in March for an official site visit. McDaniel and the full RNC will make the final decision “in the coming weeks,” Walter said.

Wisconsin officials have been lobbying for the event by promoting their status as a swing state.

“The national party realizes the importance of Wisconsin in the elections that are coming up,” said Wisconsin Republican Party state chair Paul Farrow.

Johnson said attracting the convention is also intended to set the city up for more major events in the future.

“The benefits … to keep Milwaukee in the limelight nationally and globally I think far outweigh the negatives here,” he said.