Phoenix Loses Out On Republican National Convention

Phoenix will not host the 2012 Republican National Convention and will have to wait at least another eight years to land its first prominent national political event.

The RNC site selection committee, which met with local politicians and business leaders when it toured Phoenix venues in late March, selected Tampa, which sits in a very influential swing state that went for Barack Obama in 2008, but backed George W. Bush in 2004 and 2000.

This is a major lost opportunity for metro Phoenix, which has struggled to recover from a crippling real estate crash and deep recession. In the past month the region has lost at least 19 conventions stemming from the immigrant trespassing bill signed last month by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.

Local and national RNC officials have told the Phoenix Business Journal on more than one occasion the immigration law did not play into their decision to choose Phoenix, Tampa or Salt Lake City for its national convention.

In the 2008 RNC convention in Minneapolis – St. Paul, generated $170 million in new money and created more than 2,500 jobs.