The logistics of the 2020 Democratic National Convention were unique from other United States presidential nominating conventions. Originally, the convention was scheduled to be staged in a manner similarly to other presidential conventions, being scheduled to take place July 13–16, 2020 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the convention drastically shifting to a virtual event with a production headquarters at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee. Initially, convention organizers responded to the pandemic by postponing the event to August 17–20, 2020, maintaining hopes of staging an in-person event. However, continuing pandemic restraints led to the ultimate abandonment of plans for an in-person convention.
The staging of a televised virtual convention, and the challenges imposed by pandemic health concerns led to complex logistics unique from any previous presidential convention. Adapting to pandemic restraints, the format of the convention was substantially different from previous conventions, with the duration of each day of the convention being significantly shorter than in past conventions and with most of the convention activity occurring held remotely from many venues across the country rather than at a single venue. Its activities were largely decentralized and it was regarded to be a "virtual" convention. However, the convention was officially considered to centered at the Wisconsin Center, which is where its production was headquartered, its roll call was directed from, and where a limited number of speeches (primarily those by Wisconsin politicians) were delivered.
While the 2020 Republican National Convention, held a week later, was similarly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers of that convention took many differing approaches in how they staged their convention.
Site selection
Bids on the site for the convention were solicited by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in late 2017. Preliminary requirements for host cities that the DNC laid out included that they should have between 17,000 and 18,000 hotel rooms (including 1,000 luxury suites) located within 30 minutes of the convention venue.
In the spring of 2018, the Democratic National Committee made public which cities were bidding. The field subsequently narrowed, with Las Vegas withdrawing after deciding it would focus solely on bidding for the 2020 Republican National Convention (an effort Las Vegas later abandoned without submitting a formal bid, with Republicans ultimately selecting the sole bid it received from Charlotte). In April 2018, the Democratic National Committee sent requests for proposals to the eight remaining cities that had expressed interest in hosting the event (Atlanta, Birmingham, Denver, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, New York City, and San Francisco).
On June 20, 2018, the Democratic National Committee announced four finalists for the convention site (Denver, Houston, Miami, and Milwaukee). Immediately following the announcement, the finalist city of Denver withdrew from consideration due to apparent scheduling conflicts.
Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez announced on March 11, 2019, that Milwaukee would host the convention.
The selection of Milwaukee made this the first Democratic National Convention to be hosted in the Midwestern United States since Chicago hosted the 1996 Democratic National Convention, and the first to be hosted in a midwestern city other than Chicago since St. Louis hosted the 1916 Democratic National Convention. This was the first major party convention held in Milwaukee. It was also the first major party convention to be held in any city in the state of Wisconsin.
In terms of population, Milwaukee is smaller than other metropolitan areas that had hosted recent major party conventions. Milwaukee is among the smallest metropolitan areas to have hosted a major party convention. Milwaukee's success in bidding for the convention was viewed in some circles as an upset, as the other two remaining finalist cities were not only larger metropolitan areas, but also had significant experience hosting major events such as Super Bowls.
Milwaukee's selection was seen, in part, as emphasizing party's desire to place an focus on winning Midwestern states like Wisconsin, and its desire to win back "blue wall" states in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. The swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had been the states which the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence had won by the narrowest margins in the preceding 2016 election, and had these states been instead won by the 2016 Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, they would have delivered the Democratic ticket an electoral college victory in 2016. The 2016 election had also been the first time since the 1980s that any of these three states had voted Republican. The three aforementioned "blue wall" states were, ultimately, won by the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020.
Some sources cited DNC chairman Tom Perez's personal connections to Milwaukee as a factor that aided Milwaukee's selection. His wife had originally been from nearby Wauwatosa, they had held their wedding in Milwaukee, and their daughter was a current student at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Bids Several cities made efforts to be selected as the location of the 2020 convention. + Bidding cities City Status of bid Venue Previous major party conventions hosted by city Milwaukee, Wisconsin Winner Fiserv Forum Houston, Texas Finalist Toyota Center (main venue) Democratic:1928Republican:1992 Miami, Florida Finalist American Airlines Arena (main venue) Democratic:1972Republican:1968, 1972 Denver, Colorado Finalistwithdrew after finalist selection Pepsi Center Democratic:1908, 2008 Atlanta, Georgia Submitted a letter of interest Democratic:1988 Birmingham, Alabama Submitted a letter of interest Las Vegas, Nevada Submitted a letter of interest, withdrew in order to focus on bid for 2020 RNC New York City, New York Submitted a letter of interest Democratic: 1868, 1924, 1976, 1980, 1992Republican: 2004 San Francisco, California Submitted a letter of interest Democratic: 1920, 1984Republican:1956, 1964
Host committee
The Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee was established to organize the convention.
In October 2019, the Host Committee announced its leadership team. The president of the Host Committee was Liz Gilbert. Leadership included a board of directors. Further leadership included co-chairs and vice chairs, as well as honorary vice-chairs. The co-chairs of the Host Committee were Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett and Congresswoman Gwen Moore. Vice chairs included Milwaukee County executive Chris Abele, U.S. senator Tammy Baldwin, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Mandela Barnes, Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers, former U.S. senator Herb Kohl. Honorary vice chairs included Milwaukee Common Council president Ashanti Hamilton and Wisconsin state treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Democratic leader for the Wisconsin State Assembly Gordon Hintz, Attorney General of Wisconsin Josh Kaul, Congressman Ron Kind, Wisconsin secretary of state Doug La Follette, Congressman Mark Pocan, and Wisconsin State Senate minority leader Jennifer Shilling. Additionally, the Host Committee's honorary finance chair was Alex Lasry, the senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks.
In early February 2020, Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee president Liz Gilbert and her chief-of-staff Adam Lonso were both fired after an investigation found that the committee's "work environment did not meet the ideals and expectations" of the organization's board (with allegations of a "toxic" work environment). Acting as interim leader of the Host Committee was Teresa Vilmain. In late February, a new leadership team was announced with Raquel Filmanowicz as CEO and Paula Penebaker as COO, taking these positions formally on March 2, 2020.
The host committee raised $40 million to stage the convention.
Original plans
Before it was downsized, 50,000 people had been expected to attend the convention, and the conventions were expected to generate a $250 million local economic impact.
The Democratic Party (in June 2018) scheduled for its 2020 convention to be held July 13–16, considered quite early in comparison to major party conventions of the past few elections. It marked the earliest calendar dates that the Democrats had held a convention since their 1992 convention. A July convention would have occurred in advance of the scheduled dates for the 2020 Summer Olympics. As Olympics are a major event that attracts tremendous public attention, the major parties schedule their presidential so as not to overlap with the Olympics. A decades-long "gentlemen's agreement" between the two parties has held that the party of the incumbent president holds its convention at a later date than the other party, which held when Republicans later selected to hold their convention August 24–27. The Republican convention dates were shortly after the Olympics were scheduled to close. The Olympics, like the Democratic National Convention, would ultimately be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organizers were originally planning to recruit 15,000 volunteers.
The firm Populous was named as the event architect. Populous was assigned to work in partnership with Milwaukee firm American Design Inc. In February 2020, Milwaukee-based JCP construction was awarded the contract to be the construction general contractor for the convention. Hargrove LLC was, at the same time, awarded the contract to serve as the convention's event management firm.
Plans for the convention included renting 500 buses thet would be used for delegate transportation. Milwaukee had also been planning an extension of The Hop (its modern streetcar line) that it hoped to complete in advance of the convention. However, these plans faltered, and no expansion was built before the convention.
Overnight accommodations 31 state delegations were to stay in 2,926 Milwaukee-area hotel rooms and 26 delegations were to stay in 2,841 hotel rooms in Lake County and Rosemont, Illinois. Another 11,000 hotel rooms were to house volunteers, members of the media, donors, and other attendees. Additionally, dormitories at Milwaukee-area universities and colleges were planned to accommodate some convention guests and volunteers. The Hilton Milwaukee City Center was to serve as the convention's "headquarters hotel".
Ancillary events An estimated 2,500 ancillary events were anticipated to be staged at venues throughout Milwaukee.
Cable news broadcaster CNN had planned to convert Turner Hall (an events venue near the Fiserv Forum) into a pop-up CNN Grill, similar to those it had staged at previous presidential conventions. After the Democratic Party delayed its convention, CNN was able to secure the dates necessary to stage its CNN grill at Turner Hall during the new convention dates. However, CNN withdrew its plans for a CNN Grill after it became apparent the DNC was likely to downscale the convention to a virtual event.
A proposal was made for the state to pass legislation that would have extended the permitted hours of operation for bars in the Milwaukee area during the convention. However, this was not passed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the proposal was abandoned.
Delay and downsizing While convention was originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020, this shifted amid the pandemic. On April 2, 2020, it was announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention would be delayed to August 17–20.