OXON HILL, Md. — Republicans chose Tampa to host their 2012 national convention Wednesday, hoping the swing state of Florida will help them defeat President Barack Obama.
A Republican National Committee panel recommended the Gulf Coast city during a closed-door meeting, rejecting GOP strongholds such as Salt Lake City and Phoenix. The decision came amid calls from Latino groups and others to boycott Arizona after it adopted a law to crack down on illegal immigrants, although party members insisted their decision against Phoenix was not linked to the legislation.
“We got it!” RNC secretary Sharon Day, a Floridian, shouted into a hotel hallway as she danced out of the closed-door meeting.
“I think that we are one of the bellwether states. . . . We’ll be stronger for 2012. It will give us an opportunity to strengthen our volunteer base,” she said.
Florida, with its hefty 27 electoral votes, decided the 2000 election for George W. Bush. Obama won the state in 2008.
“This is a very important state politically,” Al Austin, chairman of the host committee, said in Tampa. “There are also a lot of people who can step up and make the kind of contributions we need.”
Austin brushed off reporters’ questions regarding whether the committee could raise more than $40 million to stage the convention.
“We’re not even going to think about that,” Austin said.
Political conventions are a logistical test for any city, as thousands of people flock into the region, test infrastructure and bring in millions of dollars. Tampa officials said transportation plans and security top the list of priorities.
The selection committee’s recommendation still needs formal approval when the RNC meets in August, but that is considered a given.
The last GOP convention in Florida was in Miami in 1972, when the party nominated President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew.
