Good morning, Chicago.
Delegates, media, protesters and conventioneers have descended: DNC week is finally here. Officially, the 50,000 visitors will witness the ceremonial nomination of the newly minted Democratic ticket. Unofficially, they’re here to attend exclusive parties for a few days, and perhaps to catch a glimpse of the real Chicago, as street protesters attempt to make their voices heard inside and outside the convention hall.
While business leaders are bullish and politicians are in booster mode, one key question is whether the city will overcome the exploited and sometimes exaggerated narratives about how “horrible” Chicago is. The descriptor, pushed by former President Donald Trump and echoed by Republicans aiming political attacks, has consistently cast aspersions on the city’s Democratic and often progressive leadership and their public safety priorities.
“What I will tell you is, whatever the national narrative is, if it’s negative, we’ll prove that wrong,” responds CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling.
This is far from Chicago’s first party. Our 25 Republican and Democratic conventions, stretching back to 1860, have been both “very serious affairs” and an “opportunity to let loose, to explore or indulge in some of society’s less prim and proper offerings.”
Read the latest coverage on the Democratic National Convention below and keep up with coverage as the convention gets underway here.
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All eyes will be on Chicago this week. Can the DNC help reverse the city’s national narrative?
There’s a chip on the City of Big Shoulders, like it or not, due to a national narrative that points to Chicago’s long-standing issues of crime and renewed questions of public safety.
A Google search on Chicago, while offering a litany of places to see, things to do and food to eat, also lists frequently asked questions such as, “Is Chicago worth visiting?” “What is the crime rate in Chicago” and “Is it safe to visit Chicago?”
They’re prompted by a narrative exploited and exaggerated amid the nation’s sharply divided politics — mainly through Republican attacks on a city run by Democratic progressives and led by a rookie mayor in Brandon Johnson.
Chicago gets ready for prime time as national TV networks converge on DNC
Some 15,000 journalists are expected to descend on the city to cover the whirlwind nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris — an eleventh-hour replacement for President Joe Biden — as she challenges former President Donald Trump in November for the highest office in the land.
From Fox News to TikTok, the whole world will be watching what happens in Chicago — inside and outside the United Center — which could well set the political course of the country for years to come.
“It’s an opportunity to witness history,” said Chris Cuomo, the veteran cable news anchor and NewsNation host, who will be broadcasting live from the convention floor each night.
While the process is largely ceremonial — Harris was officially nominated by a majority of delegates during a virtual roll call earlier this month — the convention, which runs Monday through Thursday, will likely bring a spectacle of speeches, protests and, the networks hope, plenty of must-see TV.
Chicago is getting set for DNC protests. Here’s a rundown of what to expect.
Protest groups have been gearing up for months to take advantage of the attention coming to Chicago. They have planned at least seven large demonstrations, with more rallies unsanctioned by the city likely to come.
The groups plan to push a mix of causes, ranging from abortion rights to the local firefighter union’s contract. Several will decry the federal government’s support of Israel, while yet another organization is seeking to show solidarity with the warring country.
Kamala Harris’ move to the top of the ticket gave DNC hotel bookings in Chicago a boost, but don’t expect Taylor Swift-level crowds
The Democratic National Committee signed contracts with more than 40 Chicago hotels, including the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Palmer House Hilton and Sheraton Grand Chicago, according to party officials. The hotels agreed to hold thousands of rooms at contracted rates until Aug. 7, but interest in the new nominee attracted a burst of late bookings, and party officials say some hotels have decided to extend that deadline.
“We’ve seen a massive upsurge in interest,” said Ben Hardin, executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. “This is anecdotal, but there seems to be newfound energy.”
The DNC will flood downtown Chicago with visitors. But will employees go to their offices?
Concerned about the ease of travel to and from downtown or the potential for protests or security to impede transportation routes, some businesses are planning to close their offices or make mandatory in-office days optional during the four-day convention.
How the CTA will handle Democratic National Convention crowds
The agency plans to provide 165 buses and operators to drive them for convention use — a number that has fluctuated in recent months as transportation plans were finalized — which is a fraction of the CTA’s nearly 2,000 buses.
Of those buses, 135 will be used in the afternoons and evenings to take delegates from their hotels to the United Center. Another 30 buses will be used during the day to take delegates to McCormick Place. The DNC will pay $2.4 million for use of the buses.
“Chicagoans should not expect any disruption to their regular service because of what we’re going to be doing,” CTA President Dorval Carter said.
Former Mayor Richard Daley expected to be in Chicago for DNC but keeping it ‘low key’
When Chicago last hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1996, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley was the king of the city as he welcomed delegates, gave speeches all around town and did all he could to show that Chicago was ready for prime time.
Now 28 years later, Daley is expected to be in Chicago for the DNC again — but this time in a much different role. The longest-serving mayor in Chicago history and son of Richard J. Daley, the mayor in 1968 when the Democratic convention was marred by what a subsequent report deemed a “police riot” against protesters, Richard M. Daley is expected to attend DNC events but will keep a “low profile,” said his brother Bill Daley.
Dave Nystrom / Chicago Tribune
The Rev. Jesse Jackson yells to the chairman to get attention for a demand to get a 2/3rd vote during the 1972 Democratic Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 10, 1972. Jackson and his group managed to prevent delegates controlled by Mayor Richard J. Daley from being seated.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s half-century at the DNC: Landmark speeches and presidential bids helped reshape a party
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s willingness to enter the political world was on display during the 1972 Democratic convention in Miami, where he and Chicago Ald. William Singer successfully ousted an Illinois delegation of 59 people controlled by Mayor Richard J. Daley, arguing that the Daley slate did not reflect the demographics of the voters.
The move delivered a crushing blow to the seemingly all-powerful Chicago machine boss, four years after the national embarrassment of the ’68 convention in Chicago.
Chicago will be Convention City again in 2024. Take a look back at its history as a host.
Chicago won its first political convention because Illinois was one of the Midwestern states the Republicans needed to win the presidency. In late 1859, attorney Norman Judd and Chicago Tribune publisher Joseph Medill, two allies of Abraham Lincoln, persuaded the Republican National Committee that the party risked “losing the West” if it did not convene in Chicago, especially if its candidate was abolitionist U.S. Sen. William Seward of New York, then the favorite for the nomination.
Judd and Medill were really trying to boost the chances of Lincoln, who was such a dark horse that no one worried a Chicago convention would give him home-state advantage. Lincoln’s local supporters packed the Wigwam, helping create an unstoppable bandwagon for their candidate.
Lincoln was nominated on May 18, 1860, and that fall was elected the 16th president of the United States and would, of course, go on to, well you know …
The mayhem of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago
Like the upcoming Democratic convention in Chicago, the 1968 convention was preceded by fear of protesters converging on the city, and rumors that some wouldn’t make their point peacefully.
The anxiety was kindled by the riots that followed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination that April, when stretches of Madison Street and Roosevelt Road were reduced to rubble and Daley issued his infamous police order to “Shoot to kill any arsonist.”
As thousands of volunteers prepare for DNC, past helpers share memories of ’96 and thoughts of politics today
Eido Walny spent much of his free time as a volunteer at the 1996 Democratic National Convention wandering the halls of the United Center, chatting with senators and watching Bill Clinton’s prime-time acceptance speech.
“For a bright-eyed 20-year-old, that was incredible,” Walny said. “I still have my box of various credentials from that time. It was amazing.”
The Tribune followed up with two of the then-young volunteers from 1996. They shared their favorite memories and how their political views have evolved.
Organizers strive for ‘the most sustainable’ Democratic National Convention yet
On the heels of the Paris Olympics, whose organizers boldly pledged to halve the summer games’ carbon footprint compared with the average of previous Olympics, over 50,000 people are expected to gather in Chicago this week for the DNC. And convention organizers are making similarly bold statements.
Workers from Chicago’s South and West sides make up only 20% of construction labor for DNC
Residents of Chicago’s South and West sides make up only 20% of the construction workforce for the Democratic National Convention, the convention’s organizers revealed this week, even after extensive efforts to diversify and engage with underserved neighborhoods.
In total, 46% of construction workers hired for the convention are from Chicagoland, with the majority coming from the North Side of the city and its suburbs, according to the DNC host committee.
What to do in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention
From the writers, editors and contributors of A+E, our picks for a DNC week that’s hopefully just the right amount of historic.
Where to go for a taste of democracy during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
Start your day at one of Barack Obama’s favorite breakfast spots, grab a slice from Michelle Obama’s go-to pizzeria growing up and try a slice of the Kamala cake.