Members of the Republican National Committee will huddle today at a hotel in suburban Washington, D.C., area to discuss bids for the next convention and make a recommendation for a host city.
Here in Tampa, leaders of the city's host committee -- comprised of local Republicans, business and commerce leaders – will gather at the offices of Tampa Bay & Company in downtown, anxiously waiting for an afternoon phone call from the RNC's site selection committee. The call, followed by a news briefing, is expected to come around 2:30 p.m.
Tampa is vying against Phoenix and Salt Lake City to host the GOP convention, when the party's delegates will nominate a presidential candidate for the 2012 election.
Typically, the event draws about 50,000 party delegates, party officials and members of the media.
"This will be a huge business opportunity for both the city and the state," said Al Austin, a developer and Republican fundraiser who chairs the city's host committee.
No one has conducted a study on the economic impact of bringing a convention here, but host committee members have projected a payoff of more than $150 million; a figure based mostly on estimates from other cities that have hosted political conventions.
Hosting the event would cost about $100 million, according to figures from the host committee, including $40 million in private donations, an $18 million grant to the RNC from the Federal Election Commission and $50 million from Congress for security.
Local Republicans enlisted the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg to showcase the Bay area as the ideal spot for the convention. They prepared a detailed bid, and wined and dined a 12-member site selection committee that came to scout the town in March.
The 168-member RNC, consisting of party officials from across the country, will vote in August to affirm today's decision of the 12-member site committee, party officials said.
This is the third time Tampa has tried to land the Republican National Convention.
The city lost its 2004 bid to New York, largely because it was the sentimental favorite to host the first convention after the Sept. 11 attacks. In 2008, the city lost its bid to host the GOP Convention to Minneapolis-St. Paul, a Democratic stronghold with a Republican governor.
This time around, local Republicans are convinced the party will be coming to town.
Tampa has much more to offer in hotel accommodations, museums and other tourist attractions than it did in previous bids. Florida is also viewed as a battleground state in the presidential election, whereas Utah and Arizona are Republican strongholds.
There has also been speculation in political blogs that Arizona's tough new immigration law could hurt Phoenix's chances. And some party officials have criticized the tea party-backed defeat last week of Republican Sen. Bob Bennett at a state GOP convention.
National political conventions bring worldwide media exposure and millions of dollars in economic impact for the host city, providing a windfall to hotels, tourist attractions and other venues.
Tampa has never hosted a presidential convention. The last time the event was held in Florida was 1972, when both the Republican and Democratic conventions were hosted by Miami. Then-President Richard M. Nixon and George McGovern were nominated.
Tradition dictates that the party that controls the White House holds its convention after the party out of power and Democrats are not expected to pick a host city until this fall.
The 2012 GOP convention will be held the week of Aug. 27.
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