The deepest blue city in swing state Wisconsin, Milwaukee is playing host to former President Donald Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on Saturday, and the Republican National Convention this week while rival Chicago, the larger city just 90 miles to the south, welcomes President Joe Biden and Democrats in August, the Associated Press reports.
Milwaukee was supposed to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020, but it didn’t happen due to COVID. Owners of local restaurants, bars, and venues say the number of reservations that were promised during the RNC aren’t materializing. And protesters have complained the city is trying to keep them too far away from the convention site to have an impact.
Still, Democratic and Republican convention boosters point to the potential economic boon and chance to show off Milwaukee and Wisconsin during the convention that runs through Thursday.
The city’s back-to-back selection by Democrats and Republicans speaks to the swing state’s importance. However, some local business owners are questioning estimates that the convention will bring in $200 million in revenue.
Only one of the six venues run by the Pabst Theater Group in Milwaukee is booked for the week of the convention, said Gary Witt, the group’s president and CEO. Witt said he will lose more than $100,000 by not having venues used, and he’s concerned about the impact the convention will have on other Milwaukee businesses.
“Once these people are all gone, we’re meaningless to them anyway,” Witt said of convention attendees.
