Local leaders in Atlanta heavily criticized the Democratic National Committee on Thursday for rejecting the city’s bid to host the 2028 convention, accusing the national party of “abandoning” both the South and Black voters writ large.
In a letter obtained by multiple outlets, Andre Dickens, the mayor of Atlanta, blasted the DNC and its embattled chair, Ken Martin, for skipping over Atlanta after the committee whittled its list of finalists down to three cities: Boston, Denver and Philadelphia. Atlanta has not hosted a convention in nearly four decades.
Dickens argued that leaving out Atlanta signals the DNC and Martin are overlooking how vital the South is to the Democratic base. It is the latest criticism of Martin, who has faced pressure to step down over the party’s financial problems and internal clashes.
“They are afraid to leave their comfort zone and blind to the fact that the South is the answer,” Dickens said. “They are abandoning Atlanta, abandoning the South, and once again abandoning Black voters.”
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Dickens claimed that while the Republican National Committee has chosen the South for its conventions — the most recent examples being a pared-down 2020 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a 2012 gathering in Florida — the Democratic Party has instead “chosen the same region over and over again.”
“This isn’t by accident,” Dickens said. “It’s an intentional choice.”
He did not reference the 2012 Democratic convention, which was also held in Charlotte.
Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman said the Democrats cannot achieve a “path to power without the South.”
“Party people keep saying black voters and black women are the base of the party yet don’t bother to invest in the region with the largest concentration of black voters,” Romman, a Democrat, wrote in a post on X.
Atlanta launched a vigorous campaign to woo the DNC after losing the 2024 convention to Chicago. Atlanta City Council members approved up to $36 million earlier in August to host the event and had secured a contract with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority for transportation.
Dickens spokesperson Michael Smith told The Atlanta-Journal Constitution that it was “unfortunate” to learn about the DNC’s decision through news reports and that the mayor’s office would have “more to say on this in the future.”
Martin said in a statement that the three finalists presented “incredibly strong bids to host the convention.”
The DNC did not elaborate Thursday on why it cut Atlanta and Chicago from the running. It did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Dickens’ letter or Smith’s claims.
Martin wrote on X that each city “presented strong bids to host an inspiring celebration of our party’s future nominee and a critical step on our path to retaking the White House.”
Site visits to all five locations were conducted in April and May. Factors that played into the decision-making process included a city’s operational and logistical capacity, shared Democratic values and ability to respond to the challenges that arise from hosting the convention, according to a DNC official.
The DNC chose South Carolina as the first state in the party’s 2028 presidential primary process — a move that party strategists and leaders said would challenge candidates to earn the votes of Black and Latino constituents early on in the process. The party is also providing an additional $5,000 per month to Republican-controlled states, including nine Southern states, to support Democratic candidates.
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