Democrats will visit Milwaukee next month as site selection battle heats up for 2020 convention

Bill Glauber | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Democratic Party site selection committee will visit Milwaukee next month as the city tries to become the host of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Tuesday he received a call from Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez to notify the city of the visit. The date of the visit has not been announced.

Milwaukee, Houston and Miami Beach are the three finalists for the convention.

Barrett said Perez thanked the city for recently sending a group to Washington, D.C., to meet with the DNC in what was described as a "nuts and bolts" session about the bid.

Barrett said Perez informed him that the party "will be making their site visits in August to Milwaukee and the other cities that are still in the hunt."

Barrett said he has worked closely with U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) and the bid committee and they all "feel very good as we take this step."

He added they know "full well that it's going to be a competitive process."

Barrett said the bid committee will expand as "to get more people involved as we take this next step."

"I'm pleased we're taking the next step and i realize there is no sure bet here but we're clearly in the hunt," Barrett said.

The convention will be held July 13-16, 2020.

The centerpiece of Milwaukee's bid is the new Bucks arena. Other facilities that would be used include the Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee Theater and Panther Arena.

Organizers have said the convention would bring an estimated 50,000 visitors and have a $200 million economic impact in Milwaukee.

The local committee is raising up to $1 million to go through the bid process. Based on the experience of recent convention cities, if Milwaukee wins, the local committee would have to raise $50 million to $80 million to stage the event.

The selection of the host city will be announced later this year or early in 2019.