April 11, 2023
For Immediate Release
New Georgia Project Action Fund
Statement from New Georgia Project Action Fund CEO on Decision to Host the Democratic National Convention not in Atlanta
New Georgia Project Action Fund CEO, Kendra Cotton, released the following statement regarding President Biden’s decision to choose Chicago, IL over Atlanta, GA as the host city for the 2024 Democratic National Convention:
(Atlanta, GA) – “I’m disappointed by President Biden’s decision to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and not Atlanta. In 2020 and again in 2022, Georgia proved our status as a key battleground state, and any candidate, campaign, or political party should keep that in mind as we head into next year.
In 2020, President Biden won the White House and Senators Warnock and Ossoff earned their first terms in Washington because Georgia voters—specifically, Black, brown, and young Georgia voters—turned out in unprecedented numbers. These voters, and the work organizations like New Georgia Project Action Fund do to turn them out, made and will keep Georgia competitive. Hosting the Democratic National Convention here in Atlanta would have demonstrated to the voters who were integral to his election that the President and his party understand the power of Georgia voters to decide the outcomes of elections in our state, especially at the federal level.
I am encouraged to see some action taken by the President and his party to prioritize the South, including the decision to make South Carolina the first state to vote in the 2024 Presidential primary. But the fact remains that out of the 50 Democratic National Conventions held since 1832, only five here held in the South; compare that to the eleven times the city of Chicago has previously hosted the DNC. I understand that there’s political opportunity in the Midwest with recent, progressive electoral wins in Chicago and Wisconsin, but there is just as much—if not more—opportunity here.
Georgia has some of the most rapidly changing demographics in our country, with a population—and electorate—that is becoming younger and more racially diverse every year. If the President and his party want to increase their margin of victory by more than the 11,779 votes he won by in 2020, they will also need to increase their margin of effort in the South.
That means showing up in Georgia, in South Carolina, in Texas, in North Carolina, in Florida more than just a few weeks before voting begins. That means understanding that 2023 is not a year off, but a year on. New Georgia Project Action Fund is already doing the hard and necessary work of knocking doors, talking to Georgians across the state, and getting them ready to turn out in every election this year and in 2024. Not for any political party, but for the sake of our democracy and the future of our country. This is what we do every year, whether a high-profile election looms or not. We put Georgia voters at the center of our work. We hope that the President and every other top-of-the-ticket candidate vying for the votes of the American people next year will do more to follow our lead.”
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