Story highlights California Republican delegates will be staying 60 miles away from downtown Cleveland for the GOP Convention in July

Burlingame, California (CNN) California Republicans are chafing at the cheap seats they're getting for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland -- not the nosebleeds in the upper decks of the Quicken Loans Arena, but the hotel in Sandusky, Ohio, where they're staying.

60. Miles. Away.

While the rest of the Republican Party will be catching cabs back to their luxurious Cleveland digs, the 800 or so California Republicans will be catching buses back, complete with a police escort to Sandusky.

"We're pretty bitter about that," said Harmeet Dhillon, vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party. "It sucks to be California, we're like the ugly stepchild. They need us for our cash and our donors, they don't need us for anything else."

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Plum seating and hotels at the national conventions is the stuff of bragging rights for party regulars and a typical sign of each state's standing in the party and influence in the national race.

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