Birmingham didn't make the shortlist of cities in the running to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020, according to reports.

It turns out, though, the Magic City didn't even enter the race, according to the mayor's office.

Rick Journey, director of communications for Mayor Randall Woodfin, said the city submitted a letter of interest after being invited by the Democratic Party to bid to host the 2020 convention, but the city never submitted a bid.

This is surprising since national media outlets reported in May that Birmingham was one of eight cities that submitted responses to the Democrats.

"We were honored to receive the encouragement from (Democratic Party) Chairman Tom Perez and Deputy Chairman Rep. Keith Ellison to submit a proposal for Birmingham to host the DNC in 2020," Journey said in an email. "After a closer look, we recognized the huge amount of resources needed to prepare the city to be competitive in the selection process, and successful if we were to be selected as the host.

"At this time, we have determined that we must keep our focus first and foremost on our priorities to the people of Birmingham through neighborhood revitalization, workforce development and business growth," he said.

Politico reported on Wednesday that Houston, Miami Beach, Milwaukee and Denver are the finalists to host the convention. The convention is set for July 13-16, 2020.

In March, Birmingham was invited to bid to host the 2020 convention, which could attract more than 35,000 visitors to the city. The invitation came as a letter addressed to Woodfin from the Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez.

Though Birmingham didn't meet the hotel room and convention space requirement, it appeared the mayor was going to have staff submit a bid.

"We are very excited that the Democratic National Committee has recognized the City of Birmingham as an attractive, possible site for the 2020 Democratic National Convention," Woodfin told AL.com in April. "Such recognition shows how much progress our city is making when we receive these kinds of unsolicited invitations."

The mayor said the application process would be handled by internal staff unlike in 2014 when the city hired a group to submit a bid package to host the 2016 DNC.

According to the Democratic Party, a host city must have 17,000 to 18,000 hotel rooms and 1,000 luxury suites within 30 minutes of the arena.

There are about 18,000 hotel rooms combined in Jefferson and Shelby counties, according to the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. The counties fall short, though, on luxury suites.

The DNC also noted the desire for 650,000 square feet of "usable space" in an arena and convention hall.

The Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex has 350,000 square feet. Legacy Arena has seating for 17,654.