Seattle says ‘no thanks’ to Democratic National Convention
Mar 3, 2014, 3:14 PM | Updated: 3:19 pm
Although the Democratic National Committee asked the city to bid, Seattle will not try to land the 2016 Democratic National Convention. (AP file)
(AP file)
Seattle won’t be making a bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, even though the Democratic National Committee invited the city to throw its hat in the ring.
The DNC recently sent letters to Seattle and a number of other cities asking them to bid for the convention. But a spokesman for Seattle Mayor Ed Murray tells the Seattle Times the city doesn’t meet the requirements.
“Short of their changing their requirements I don’t see that we would even qualify,” said Jeff Reading.
Seattle doesn’t have enough hotel rooms, convention space and other amenities to meet the requirements.
The city also lacks an arena large enough to hold the convention, with KeyArena falling short on number of seats and luxury boxes.
It’s unlikely Seattle would have been given much consideration anyway. The Times points out conventions tend to go to perceived swing states, with the Democrats picking North Carolina in 2012 while Republicans gathered in Florida.
