The Democratic National Convention is coming to Chicago next week. Approximately 50-thousand visitors are expected to descend on the United Center and McCormick Place.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and first Indian American in U.S. history to obtain a major party’s presidential nomination, will officially accept the Democratic Party’s nomination at the convention.
Harris, who ran unopposed for the Democratic presidential nomination following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, garnered the majority of delegate votes to clinch the nomination during the virtual voting process held earlier this month.
Chicago’s public access television network better known as CAN-TV, will be the center of national and local programming during the Democratic National Convention.
Locally, live DNC programming will be produced each evening with special editions of Chicago Politics, hosted by veteran journalist and publisher of Illinois Latino News, Hugo Balta and civic leader Andrea Zopp.
Balta is the regular host of Chicago Politics. Zopp is the host of Chicago Newsroom 2.0.
Each night, Balta and Zopp will host Chicago political and civic leaders who will offer views on the day’s events at the convention.
Chicago is no stranger to hosting the Democratic National Convention. The city has hosted 25 Republican and Democratic conventions. No other city has done nearly as many. The last time the DNC was here was in 1996, when President Bill Clinton was nominated for a second term.
Clinton and former First Lady, and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton have been confirmed as speakers at the convention. President Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama are also scheduled speakers.
The DNC will be more than just four days of fanfare and prime-time speeches; it will also be as Alderman Gilbert Villegas serving the 36th Ward has said: an opportunity to boost and invest in our local businesses so they can benefit long past August.
“For the host committee, what we wanted to see, was that economic impact spread as wide as possible so as many people across the Chicagoland region is getting a piece of this economic pie,” Edelstein Jarvis said on last month’s episode of Chicago Politics focused on the DNC. “We have gone far and wide to source local diverse firms for our convention.”
Alderman Villegas is among the guest speakers scheduled to be interviewed by Balta on the segment, Front and Center.
SUGGESTION: Chicago Politics: The Democratic National Convention
“We will witness an historic changing of the guard for Democrats as President Biden’s speech Monday night kicks off a convention that just weeks ago he had intended to close as his party’s nominee,” said Balta. “It is important to deliver news that’s more than just the traditional “who is leading in the polls” reporting. Audiences demand coverage that shifts from problem-focused to highlighting responses addressing community challenges.
The Democratic National Convention runs from August 19 to the 22nd.
For more information, click HERE.
Cover Photo: Vice President Kamala Harris addresses supporters in Arizona. (Credit Kamala Harris, X)
Illinois Latino News is an affiliate of the Latino News Network.
