Republicans from across the country will gather in Milwaukee later this month to formally nominate former President Donald Trump as their candidate for the 2024 election, marking the first time the Republican National Convention has been held in the Badger State.
The conference comes at a time when Republicans are seeking to regain control of the US Senate and the White House, and Wisconsin could play a pivotal role in achieving these aspirations.
Here’s some history of the conference, and what the conference website has told us in previous years about the ultimate winner of the presidential election.
When is the 2024 Republican National Convention?
The 2024 Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place July 15-18 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
How many times has Milwaukee hosted the conference?
This will be the first time Milwaukee has hosted the Republican National Convention, and it actually marks the second consecutive election cycle the city has participated in the convention season.
The city was selected to host the 2020 conference, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic most of the event was held remotely.
Hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention would make Milwaukee one of 18 cities to host both the Democratic and Republican conventions.
Which city has hosted the most Republican National Conventions?
Surprisingly, the city that has hosted the Republican National Convention the most times since 1832 is Chicago, which has done so 14 times, the last being in 1960.
Chicago has also hosted the largest number of Democratic conventions, and will host its 11th later this summer.
The closest city to Chicago in terms of hosting conventions is Philadelphia, which has welcomed Republicans to the City of Brotherly Love on five occasions.
How did Republicans perform in the states that hosted the convention?
In recent years, the Republican Party has targeted swing states when choosing where to host its conventions, but that hasn’t always resulted in victories.
In fact, Republicans were defeated in host states on five consecutive occasions from 1996 to 2012, before Trump broke that streak by winning Ohio after Cleveland hosted the Republican National Convention in 2016.
Trump won his second straight victory by winning North Carolina in 2020.
Since 1948, Republicans have won 11-8 in the state that hosted their convention, including a four-election winning streak thanks to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush between 1980 and 1992.
What role does Wisconsin typically play in presidential elections?
Since 1964, Wisconsin has voted for the winner of the presidency 12 out of 15 times, including the last four elections in a row, according to 270toWin.
President Joe Biden won Wisconsin by less than 1 percent of the vote, with more than 3.2 million votes cast. His final margin of victory was just over 20,000 votes.
The state voted for the president on six consecutive occasions between 1964 and 1984 before supporting Michael Dukakis against Bush in 1988, an election the incumbent vice president won handily.
