The Democratic National Committee announced Friday that it’s holding its national 2016 convention the week ofJuly 25, 2016 - the week after Republicans are scheduled to hold their convention in Cleveland.
“We are still in discussions with three excellent cities and are looking forward to a diverse and inclusive convention that displays our party’s values,” said DNC chairwoman and Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The committee is in final contract negotiations with Columbus, New York, and Philadelphia, the three possible locations for the convention.
Earlier this month, the Republican National Committee announced the GOP would be holding its convention fromJuly 18-21 in Cleveland, Ohio.
In announcing the dates, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus pointed out that the convention will be held significantly earlier than in previous cycles, allowing the GOP nominee to get earlier access to general election campaign money.
That could be significant with what appears to be a wide-open primary contest in 2016 on the Republican side. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the undisputed frontrunner to be the Democratic nominee, though she has not formally announced her plans to run yet.
The two parties held their conventions in back-to-back weeks in 2012 as well, but they were much later, with Republicans holding theirs in Tampa the last week in August and Democrats holding theirs in Charlotte the first week of September.
In 2008, those schedules were flipped, with Democrats holding theirs the final week of August in Denver and Republicans holding theirs the first week of September in Minneapolis.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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