In the News

By Rich Kirchen

The most influential business organization in greater Milwaukee — with an overwhelmingly Republican membership — is not only throwing its weight behind Milwaukee’s bid for the Democratic National Convention but also acting as fiscal agent for the committee pursuing the event.

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said his organization is all about business regardless of whether it's coming from Republicans or Democrats. Wisconsin swung from a blue Democratic state to a red Republican state in the 2016 election supporting Donald Trump.

“Our members are all green and I mean that,” Sheehy said in an interview Wednesday after a press conference on Milwaukee’s Democratic bid. “We’re a nonpartisan organization and this is about attracting revenue and jobs to the community and exposing Milwaukee — all of which is in our playbook.”

Furthermore, MMAC takes seriously the importance of participating in America’s democracy, Sheehy said.

“We’re serving as fiscal agent because there’s a serious civic responsibility here,” Sheehy said during the press conference at Milwaukee City Hall. “This is a democracy. We know in today’s day and age that can be very tenuous and a Democratic national convention is an important part of this country’s ability to celebrate a democracy and I couldn’t think of a better place to do it than in Milwaukee.”

In supporting Milwaukee’s Democratic convention bid, MMAC is collaborating with the city’s Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry. The main event would be held at the new Bucks arena downtown.

Lasry worked in then-President Barack Obama’s White House and was a Hillary Clinton delegate at the 2016 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia. Lasry’s father, Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, was a major financial supporter of Clinton and also served as a “bundler” who raised large sums of money from other affluent Clinton backers.

Organizers of the Milwaukee bid cite figures from the 2016 Philadelphia convention as examples of what metro Milwaukee would see should the convention be held here. The 2016 event drew 54,000 people and $231 million of economic activity.

Beyond that would be what supporters say would be a priceless opportunity to showcase downtown Milwaukee's economic renaissance and the livability of the area for residents and businesses.

Alex Lasry said he chairs the committee seeking the convention and said he was involved from the start along with Barrett, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Lasry said the convention pursuit is separate from his work for the Bucks.

Of course, the Bucks would gain a major summer event for the arena that they will run under a 30-year lease with the Wisconsin Center District. The Bucks also are participating in Milwaukee's bid for the NBA All-Star game in 2022 or 2023 along with Visit Milwaukee.

When asked whether the two Lasrys’ participation in the Milwaukee group will help Milwaukee’s bid, Alex Lasry said he doesn’t think so.

“There are bigger donors to the Democratic party than my dad. As much as I love my dad and I like to think how influential he can be, this is going to be a decision that is going to be based on the DNC members and the committee and Democrats as a whole choosing Milwaukee.”

Lasry said he believes Milwaukee is the first city to express interest in hosting the 2020 Democratic convention. Charlotte, N.C., which hosted the 2012 Democratic convention, has disclosed plans to submit a bit for the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Milwaukee would be the smallest metro area to host a national political convention in a presidential year since New Orleans hosted the Republicans in 1988. The only other similarly sized metro to host such a political convention the past century was Kansas City for the Republicans in 1976.

Milwaukee supporters are well on their way to raising the $750,000 to $1 million needed to produce and present Milwaukee’s bid, Lasry said. He said funds are being raised from businesses and the community.

The actual convention would cost $50 million to $80 million to produce, but Lasry said funds would be raised nationally for that and not just in Wisconsin.

Barrett echoed the idea that Milwaukee’s pitch is bipartisan and said he would throw his weight behind a bid for a Republican National Convention in the city. He added that Wisconsin’s status as a swing state in national elections should be a selling point.

“Whether we’re bidding for the Democratic convention or the Republican convention, I’m certainly going to make the argument — ‘Hey this is a swing state, you want to be here,’” Barrett said. “There’s a value in being in the state of Wisconsin because of where we sit politically. We may as well capitalize on that.”

The DNC will issue a formal request for proposals this spring and then conduct site visits of finalist cities later this summer. The party will announce the name of the host city during the winter/spring of 2018-2019.

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