JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Republican National Committee members were in Jacksonville Tuesday, performing site surveys at venues throughout the River City.
The committee was reportedly taking a closer look at whether certain venues in Jacksonville could accommodate the logistics associated with The Republican National Convention.
The visit happened at Vystar Veteran's Memorial Arena and other city venues, according to Danielle Alvarez, Southeast Communications Manager for The Republican National Committee.
The 2024 convention will be held in Milwaukee. However, the party could already be eyeing a spot for it's 2028 event under new rules.
“Under the Chairwoman’s leadership, the RNC made a change in our rules last summer to allow the committee to have the ability to select the 2028 RNC Convention city now instead of after the 2024 election, says RNC Senior Advisor Richard Walters. "This is a big deal and will be transformative for our Party moving forward as it allows us the opportunity to open up a more competitive process to put on the best possible convention for our delegates and eventual nominee. We’ve sent out many requests for proposals and have received many responses. We look forward to the process playing out in the coming months."
In 2020, President Donald Trump canceled segments of the Republican National Convention scheduled to be held in Jacksonville. He cited a “flare-up” of coronavirus in Florida as the reason.
Additionally, just days before the president's announcement, there was clear frustration and concern from Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams, who said he didn't have the manpower to keep the city safe.
"Where we are today is we can't support this plan. We don't have what we need to pull off the RNC at this point,” Williams said then.