Atlanta’s Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens blasted the Democratic National Committee on Thursday after his city did not make the cut for the shortlist to host the party’s 2028 presidential convention.
Instead, the DNC announced Thursday that Boston, Denver and Philadelphia had moved on as the three remaining hopefuls to host the Aug. 7-10, 2028 convention, which eliminated Atlanta and Chicago from a five-city pool.
The Democratic National Convention Committee will now review the contracts and logistics of the three final contenders over the next several months.
The rejection did not sit well with the Atlanta mayor.
Mr. Dickens, in a blistering letter to DNC leaders, accused them of snubbing the South and Black voters, writing that, “The DNC continues to make the wrong choices. This decision could not have been based on Atlanta’s ability to host major events. Not on the heels of being ranked the best city to host the World Cup.”
“For the DNC to not even include Atlanta in the shortlist means that the DNC does not consider Atlanta or Georgia relevant to the past, present, or future of the Democratic Party,” he said.
“They are abandoning Atlanta, abandoning the South, and once again abandoning Black voters. When even a Democrat mayor in a Democrat stronghold is saying the party has abandoned the South and Black voters… that should tell you everything you need to know.”
Mr. Dickens singled out DNC Chair Ken Martin, saying, “It seems that Ken Martin doesn’t even believe himself when he said that the road to the White House runs through the South. Yet again, the DNC and Chairman Ken Martin have shown that they are unwilling to do the bare minimum to support the base of the party.”
Mayor Dickens added that Democrats are “afraid to leave their comfort zone and blind to the fact that the South is the answer.”
“Atlanta has not hosted a convention in nearly 40 years. One party has chosen the South to host their convention, and the other has chosen the same region over and over again. This isn’t by accident. It’s an intentional choice,” he said.
Mr. Dickens’ letter comes at a time when Democrats are seeking out ways to push back against the recent Supreme Court decision, Louisiana v. Callais, which significantly narrows Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, making it much more difficult to challenge congressional map lines on racial grounds.
Despite Mr. Dickens’ reasons for his concerns about the Black southern vote being abandoned, the DNC did rearrange its 2028 presidential nomination calendar recently, with six different states kicking off that primary season, so South Carolina will be the first state scheduled in their presidential primary line-up on Jan. 22, 2028.
The DNC highlighted the new calendar as more focused on racial diversity, noting that census data show about 4.6 million Black people live in the six early states.
