Democrats head to Chicago amid clamor for convention spotlight

As the American city that has hosted more political conventions than any other, Chicago has pretty much seen it all.

Presidential candidates have been made official in Chicago more than two dozen times since Abraham Lincoln in 1860, including the infamous 1968 convention, where police clashed with protesters, and Bill Clinton’s 1996 renomination.

Now the nation’s third-largest city is back on the global political stage as it hosts the Democratic National Convention starting Monday, with city leaders, residents and activists each hoping to claim time in the spotlight and shape the city’s reputation.

Tourism officials are eager to highlight the best sites and eats, while allaying security concerns about crowds and street violence. Anti-war protesters, drawing from the area’s large Palestinian population, are ready to march. And elected leaders say it’s an historic opportunity to be the city where a woman of color, Vice President Kamala Harris, will be designated to lead a presidential ticket for the first time.

Chicago has been preparing for more than a year, with extensive police training and security drills ahead of the event that’s expected to draw 50,000 people, including thousands of anti-war activists.

But anxiety that things might take a turn remain.

Some downtown businesses boarded up their windows this week while Cook County courts added more space and hours in anticipation of mass arrests during the convention.

Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Chicago has held many large-scale events without problems, including the NATO convention in 2012. He touted the department’s training for constitutional policing and de-escalation tactics as critical to the city’s security plan.

Protests are expected every day of the convention, with the overarching message being a call for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. Activists say Chicago is the ideal location because demonstrations will draw from the city’s southwest suburbs, where the largest concentrations of Palestinians nationwide reside.

“It’s not hyperbole to say the genocide is affecting the people of Chicago on a very personal level,” said Muhammad Sankari, an organizer. “Because of that, it’s a moral imperative for us to be organizing and bringing our demands to the doorstep of the Democratic Party.”

Some Chicago residents are also hoping to seize the chance.

Bradly Johnson leads an anti-violence organization, BUILD Chicago, on the West Side, not far from the United Center where the convention will take place. For months during after-school and weekend programming, his group has cited the upcoming convention in teaching young people about the democratic process.

He’s hoping the thousands of party leaders coming to Chicago will also learn from young people.

“It’s an opportunity for Chicago to demonstrate that although there are shootings, that’s not the totality of who we are,” he said.

Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois said excitement around the convention — the city’s 26th for a major party— was clear.

Her phone has been buzzing with friends and acquaintances looking for tickets since Harris became the presumptive nominee. Adding to the hype, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker had been under consideration as Harris’ running mate.

Moseley Braun, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, said it was fitting that Harris would accept the nomination in Chicago, where former President Barack Obama started his political career.

“We have a tradition in this city of men and women moving forward for new horizons,” she said.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.