U.S. ELECTIONS | Guide to the 2008 Election
21 February 2008
2008 Republican Convention Will Be Second Held in Minneapolis
45,000 people expected to come to Minnesota's "Twin Cities"
Washington -- The 2008 Republican National Convention, to be held September 1-4 in Minnesota's "Twin Cities" of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will be the Republican Party’s 39th national convention and the second such gathering the party has held in Minnesota.
In 1892, Minneapolis hosted the 10th Republican convention, at which delegates nominated Benjamin Harrison for president. That year also was the first time women were allowed to attend the party's national gathering.
The 2008 convention will welcome delegates and alternative delegates representing all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In all, 45,000 people, including volunteers and members of the media, are expected to attend.
The St. Paul-Minneapolis area was selected to host the 2008 convention by the Republican National Committee for its metropolitan vibrancy and adequate supply of hotel rooms and meeting venues, as well as the demonstrated cooperative spirit of local officials and residents, according to the convention committee's Web site.
The 2008 Republican convention will be the first to be organized with women in top leadership posts. It will bring an estimated $160 million to the area in the form of jobs, purchases by convention attendees and public funding from the Federal Election Commission.
Anyone of voting age can be elected a delegate. The delegate election process varies from state to state. In 2004, delegates ranged in age from 18 to 95.
The St. Paul-Minneapolis area has these features:
• More theater seats per capita than any American city other than New York, with more than 30 venues.
• Three national "Tony" Award-winning regional theaters, including the noted Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is one of just three cities in the country to have three Tony Award-winning theaters.
• The Fitzgerald Theater, home base of Garrison Keillor and his world-famous Prairie Home Companion radio program.
• The Mall of America, the country's largest shopping mall and a draw for international tourists.
• Professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey teams.
• Several beautiful lakes and parks -- 22 lakes are within the Minneapolis city limits alone.
• 57 museums -- only Chicago and Washington have more.
• Summit Avenue in St. Paul, the longest preserved Victorian avenue in the country. In addition to being the site of the governor's residence, Summit Avenue once boasted the residences of authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis.
Travel and Leisure magazine recently named Minneapolis "one of five up-and-coming destinations to visit."
St. Paul originally was called Pig's Eye and Minneapolis, St. Anthony.
Minnesota is the 31st state admitted to the union of the United States. It is known as the "North Star State" and the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
