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Despite lingering concerns about the citys pandemic protocols, leaders of the Republican Party of Texas chose San Antonio over Fort Worth to host its 2024 state party convention.

The state convention is where the party elects its leaders, determines its platform and policy objectives and sets party rules. In a presidential year, the party also chooses its delegates to the electoral college.

The event is expected to take place May 23-25 of next year, with the majority of the meetings hosted at the Henry B. Gonzlez Convention Center. The state GOPs executive committee selected San Antonio for the gathering in a special meeting April 26, 2022.

Spokesman James Wesolek said the 2022 GOP convention in Houston drew more than 10,000 attendees. The party expects a larger turnout in San Antonio because of the 2024 presidential race.

San Antonio last hosted the state GOP convention in 2018, a midterm election year when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz faced a tougher than expected reelection race against Democrat Beto ORourke, then a member of Congress.

That same year the City Council passed on bidding to host the 2020 Republican National Convention, citing potential disruptions caused by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters.

Members of the State Republican Executive Committee, which includes one male and female representative from each state Senate district, heard competing pitches from the two cities marketing arms more than a year ago at their quarterly meeting in Austin.

Through a virtual presentation, Melanie Hoover, assistant vice president of convention sales and services for Visit Fort Worth, talked up her citys dedication to staying open for business throughout the pandemic.

RPTs 2020 convention was canceled by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner days before it was supposed to take place, due to COVID-19 concerns.

Weve been so just blessed to have Gov. Abbott and everything that hes done for our economy, Hoover said. When Nevada shut down, we were able to host the National Finals Rodeo had we not hosted that event, we in Fort Worth, Texas, would not be where we are today as far as welcoming business back.

Alysia Roden, who was the director of sales for Visit San Antonio at the time, attended the SREC gathering in person in February 2022 and stressed the citys appeal to visitors who might want to extend their stay through the Memorial Day weekend. After her presentation she faced questions about the citys pandemic precautions.

Does San Antonio follow the governors requirements, such as mask mandates or do the local governmental authorities do things we need to be aware of? one man asked.

City and county leaders fought Abbott throughout the pandemic to be able to enforce local mask mandates. But Roden assured the SREC members, once you rent the convention center, its your space, your facility, you set the protocols.

God help us all, by 2024 I really hope that this is in our rearview, she said.

Karen Marshall, who represents part of San Antonio on the SREC and serves on the body Convention Planning Committee, said she expects the gathering to take up the entire convention center in 2024. Members of that committee plan to do a walk-through in the coming weeks.

Being a presidential year, and because so many people just like visiting San Antonio, it will host a couple thousand more delegates than the year before, Marshall said.

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San Antonio to host 2024 Republican Party of Texas convention - San Antonio Report