City of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other Georgia Democrats welcomed DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison in a tour of State Farm Arena on Friday as part of their attempt to win the bid for Georgia’s capital to host the 2024 DNC National Convention.
“This week, Atlanta welcomed Democratic National Convention officials to promote its bid to host the 2024 convention. Our city is clearly the place to be!” The City of Atlanta Government said in a Facebook post on Friday.
Congresswoman Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) took part in the tour of State Farm Arena.
“We all know that #AtlantaInfluencesEverything and there’s no better city at rolling out the red carpet y’all. We already know that the World Cup is coming to town, I’m excited to support Atlanta bringing the 2024 Democratic National Convention too! Let’s invest in our Fighting Fifth!” Congresswoman Williams said on Monday.
GA-07 candidate Lucy McBath, Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts and Bernice King were present, in addition to musical entertainers Ceelo Green and Jermaine Dupri.
Amber Connor, Security Chair for The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, did not pull punches in her criticism of Dickens and the City of Atlanta government when she spoke with The Star News on Monday.
“Until they handle the huge uptick in crime, it is irresponsible to want to bring any convention to Atlanta. The problem our Country faces in general, is that our elected class spend endless amount of time prostituting themselves for a political party rather than dealing with the issues their constituents face each day,” Connor said.
Connor called the actions of the Peach State capital’s leaders ‘out of touch.’
“Leadership is failing all through our country and Atlanta is no exception to this irresponsible behavior. Our elected class are wholly out of touch with their citizenry. Full stop,” Connor added.
Buckhead City Committee CEO Bill White told The Star News, “When Buckhead City is up and running and Buckhead is finally safe, secure, and independent, [we] would love to host the DNC, the RNC, or any major event,” White said.
In light of Atlanta’s rise in international awareness as a host city for events, White brought up the 2026 World Cup.
“We truly believe it’s unsafe for the DNC or FIFA to host events in Atlanta. The DNC should think twice about coming to the most dangerous city in the South where according to Atlanta’s own 11Alive reporting, says you’re more likely to be murdered here than in Chicago,” White said.
“We must fund the police,” he added.
DeKalb County GOP Chairwoman Marci McCarthy told The Star News the methodology the DNC will use in the selection of the host city.
“It is evident that the DNC is selecting two of their final four cities based on falsely perceived gains in the 2020 elections. The reality is Georgia is ultimately a Red State which will be demonstrated once again in November,” McCarthy said.
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Addison Basurto is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Addy on Twitter and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Mayor Andre Dickens and Other Georgia Democrats Welcomed DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison in a Tour of State Farm Arena” by Congresswoman Nikema Williams.
