COVID-19, cash woes plague Republican National Convention planning

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry talks the rise, and fall, of the Jacksonville RNC

The Republican National Convention was sold as Jacksonville’s Holy Grail. But it may be the city’s Waterloo, if recent news cycles mean anything.

The virus presents concerns. But resources are also reportedly a worry.

Fundraising is in doubt. The New York Times reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis is freezing his donors from backing the convention due to the involvement of Susie Wiles, with whom he had a falling out soon after his 2018 campaign.

In that grim context, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry addressed reporter questions on the event Friday, including denying the veracity of the New York Times report and expressing confidence that the source of the leak isn’t, as some suggest, in the Mayor’s Office itself.

“I don’t believe there’s any truth to that story,” Curry, the co-chair of the host committee for the event, said, noting “the first I’ve heard is reading it in the New York Times.”

“I work with the Governor and his team on any number of issues,” Curry said.

The two have “talked about the convention,” Curry said.

The mayor denied the possibility, saying he “can’t imagine the source” is from his inner circle.

Members of the Mayor’s inner circle, meanwhile, likewise dispute that sourcing, as well as the narrative about DeSantis, a story given legs in part by the Governor’s sometimes grudgeful nature.

And for her part, Wiles isn’t talking.

Beyond personality issues, the COVID-19 pandemic presents issues that could impact planning until the end.

Curry noted that in terms of timeframe, there actually is sufficient leeway for a last-minute change of plans, potentially including canceling the event if needed.

“We’re at 50% capacity right now. We’re monitoring the spread in our community every day,” Curry said, noting that “Houston pulled their statewide convention a week out.”

The Mayor then expressed pique about “daily questions about what’s going to happen. The answer remains the same. We’re monitoring the situation.”

If there is “widespread community spread” and “hospitals couldn’t handle it,” Curry said “we will take action at that time.”

The full-scale indoor convention that was Jacksonville’s unique value add hangs in doubt, after national reports that outdoor venues, including the Jacksonville Jaguars football stadium and the local minor league baseball park, were in play given potential complications with a full-scale indoor event.

As for the potential for outdoor events, a chancy proposition in swampy Jacksonville during the peak of August heat and hurricane chances, Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury said outdoor events were being considered all along.

For visitors from other parts of the country, Jacksonville’s climate will present a reckoning, if that is the case.

Political opponents are savoring the spectacle.

The Democratic National Committee sent out a “war room” email highlighting a number of lowlights for the RNC planning Friday.

“Trump’s dangerous, chaotic convention is creating quite a few headaches at the RNC. From a home state governor sabotaging fundraising efforts to slapdash plans for an outdoor convention in dangerously hot weather, it’s no wonder U.S. senators don’t want to attend and Jacksonville residents don’t want it to happen.”