User:SecretName101/Locations of major party United States presidential nominating conventions

The location of the United States presidential nominating conventions held by the major political parties of the United States vary by year. Logistical and political factors are considered when the parties select which interested city will be the host of their convention.

General overview
The convention is typically held in a major city selected by the national party organization 18–24 months before the election is to be held, although the Republican National Committee voted in 2022 to allow the party to select its presidential convention sites six years in advance. As the two major conventions have grown into large, publicized affairs with significant economic impact, cities today compete vigorously to be awarded host responsibilities, citing their meeting venues, lodging facilities, and entertainment as well as offering economic incentives.

The location of early conventions was dictated by the difficulty of transporting delegates from far-flung parts of the country; early Democratic and Whig Conventions were frequently held in the central Eastern Seaboard port of Baltimore, Maryland. As the U.S. expanded westward and railroads connected cities, Midwestern locations such as Chicago, Illinois—which since 1860 has held 25 Republican and Democratic Conventions combined, more than any other city—became the favored hosts. In present times, political symbolism affects the selection of the host city as much as economic or logistical considerations do. A particular city might be selected to enhance the standing of a favorite son, or in an effort to curry favor with residents of that state. For example, in 2011, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina noted: "We put the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in part because we believe so deeply in" a "New South map." Likewise, New York City was selected as the host of the 2004 Republican National Convention to evoke memories of George W. Bush's leadership during the September 11 attacks.

The conventions have historically been held inside convention centers, but in recent decades the two major parties have favored sports arenas and stadiums to accommodate the increasing capacity, the former because indoor arenas are usually off-season outside of WNBA sites, allowing plenty of time for preparation. The major political parties have avoided baseball stadiums ever since the 1992 Republican National Convention at the Houston Astrodome forced the Houston Astros to play 26 consecutive road games. Bids for the 2008 Republican National Convention, for example, were required to have a facility with a seating capacity of at least 20,500 people, including a convention floor of about 5,500 delegates and alternates; the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota was eventually selected. Meanwhile, approximately 84,000 people attended the last day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High. The last day of the 2012 Democratic Convention was originally also scheduled for an outdoor football stadium, but was moved indoors due to weather concerns. Excepting the pandemic affected 2020 conventions, the last non-sporting venue to host the Democratic National Convention was San Francisco's Moscone Center in 1984. In 1996, the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego became the last non-sporting venue to host the Republican National Convention, excepting 2020.

While, in the past, both major parties occasionally held their conventions in the same cities, this has not occurred since 1972. A challenge of locating both nominating conventions in the same locale is that it increases a number of factors that place a burden on the host site. For instance, the amount of money the locale needs to raise from donors to facilitate the convention would increase. Additionally, a party might demand that the city not play host to both conventions. For instance, when Chicago won the right to host the 1996 Democratic National Convention, there was a clause in its contract that prevented it from also hosting the 1996 Republican National Convention.

Cities that have been the location of major party conventions
Of the 95 major-party conventions held through the 2020 election cycle, 27 different metro areas have hosted conventions. On two occasions, parties had more than one official "host city" their conventions, these being the 1860 Democratic National Conventions, and the 2020 Republican National Convention.

More than half of all major party conventions have been held in just three cities: Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

In six election years, both the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions in the same city. However, this has not occurred since 1972. Chicago played double-duty as a host city four times, in 1884, 1932, 1944, and 1952. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was host of both major-party conventions in 1948, and Miami Beach, Florida was host to both in 1972. In addition to this, in the years 1844 and 1852, both the Democratic and Whig parties held their conventions in Baltimore, making for a total of eight elections in which the United States' major parties held their presidential nominating conventions in the same city.

Two metro areas have seen more than one of their municipalities be the site of major party conventions. Minneapolis–Saint Paul is home to Minneapolis (site of the 1892 RNC) and St. Paul (site of the 2008 RNC). The San Francisco Bay Area is home to Daly City (site of the 1956 RNC and 1968 RNC) and San Francisco (site of the 1920 DNC and 1984 DNC).

Having been the site of 25 major party conventions, Chicago, Illinois has been the most frequent host city of major party conventions, hosting more than a quarter of all of them. Chicago has been both the most frequent host of Democratic conventions (hosting 11) and Republican conventions (hosting 14). Chicago was last the site of a major party convention in 1996, when it was the host of that year's Democratic convention. Nine of the conventions held in Chicago took place in the 19th century, and sixteen of them took place in the 20th century. Chicago's frequency as a host significantly dropped-off after the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which saw infamous protest activity and police response, with Chicago only hosting a single convention since. Chicago is scheduled to host another convention, with the 2024 Democratic National Convention being scheduled to take place in the city.

In the 19th century, the most frequent host city of major party conventions was Baltimore, Maryland, (the site of the first presidential nominating convention ). Between 1832 and 1872, Baltimore saw twelve major party conventions. However, the city has only since played host city to a single other major party convention (the 1912 DNC). At the time that it was a frequent host of major party conventions, city was seen as a location for these events due to its accessibility by various means of transit (railroads, steamships, and turnpikes), the presence of several meeting spaces in the city considered spacious by the eras standards, quality hotels in the city, and quality dining in the city. Baltimore is considered to currently lack an appropriate venue by the standards and requirements of modern conventions in turns of seating capacity, space, and logistics. When the city made a longshot bid for the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the city proposed hosting the convention underneath a temporary canopy that would be erected at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (which would have likely necessitated its baseball team tenant to vacate the venue for a roughly two-month period of their season). Potential lack of sufficient hotel capacity has also been cited as an obstacle to Baltimore playing host to another major party convention any time soon.

Table of cities/metro areas by number of major party conventions hosted
** Years with multiple convention host cities Information reflecting future conventions are denoted in italics

States in which major party conventions have been held
As of the 2020 election cycle, nineteen states and the District of Columbia have hosted major party presidential nominating conventions. Thirty-one states have never hosted one (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming).

On the two aforementioned occasions in which more than one city was the host of a major party's convention(s) (the 1860 Democratic conventions and 2020 Republican convention), the different cities were also located in different states/districts.

Of the 95 major party conventions held up through the 2020 election cycle, more than a quarter have taken place in Illinois. Combined, the states of Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania have been the sites of more than half of all major party conventions. Combined, the seven states of Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, New York, and Ohio have been the locations of more than three-quarters of all major party conventions (each of those seven states have held six or more major party conventions). Six states have seen more than one of their metro-areas host a convention: California (Los Angeles, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay area), Florida (Miami Beach and Tampa), Missouri (Kansas City and St. Louis), Ohio (Cincinnati and Cleveland), Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Philadelphia), Texas (Dallas and Houston)

Table of states/federal districts by number of major party conventions hosted
** Years with multiple convention host states Note: Information reflecting future conventions are denoted in italics

Venues that have been the primary locations major party conventions
More than sixty different facilities have served as the primary venues for major party national conventions.

In seven election years, two major parties have held their conventions in the same venue. This only once happened between the Democratic and Whig parties, in 1844, when the Maryland Institute was the location of both of their conventions. This has occurred five times between the Democratic and Republican parties, most recently in 1972. In both 1932 and 1944, the Chicago Stadium in Chicago served as the venue for both conventions. In 1948, the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center in Philadelphia was the site of both conventions. In 1952, the International Amphitheatre in Chicago played host to both conventions. In 1972, the Miami Beach Convention Center played host both the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Table of venues by number of major party conventions hosted
Information reflecting future conventions are denoted in italics.

Regions by number of conventions hosted
The following table provides information related to each of the four United States Census Bureau-designated regions of the United States and their hosting of major party conventions.

Information reflecting future conventions are denoted in italics.

Divisions by number of conventions hosted
The following table provides information related to each of the nine United States Census Bureau-designated divisions of the United States and their hosting of major party conventions. The only of the nine census divisions to have never been the location of a major party convention is the East South Central division.

Information reflecting future conventions are denoted in italics.

Other geographic factors
Most conventions have been held in cities east of the Mississippi River. Only in three elections have both of the major parties held each of their conventions in locations west of the Mississippi River (1928, 1984, and 2008).

No major party has held its presidential nominating convention outside of the contiguous United States