Atlanta’s Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens launched a scathing attack on the Democratic National Committee’s leadership Thursday, accusing party leaders of turning their backs on Black voters and the South after the DNC excluded the city from its shortlist to host the 2028 presidential convention.Â
“The DNC continues to make the wrong choices,” Dickens wrote in a scathing letter obtained by Fox News Digital, singling out DNC Chairman Ken Martin after party officials narrowed their convention search to Boston, Denver and Philadelphia.
Dickens rebuke echoes an argument other southern Democrats have pressed on the national party in recent months: that Democrats cannot afford to take the South â and particularly its Black voters â for granted heading into 2028. South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain declared last month, amid debate over the partys presidential primary calendar, that “the South is not the past, it is the future,” while Democratic chairs from five other southern states previously warned the DNC against sending Black voters the message that their loyalty is “taken for granted.”
“They are afraid to leave their comfort zone and blind to the fact that the South is the answer. They are abandoning Atlanta, abandoning the South, and once again abandoning Black voters,” Dickens wrote in his letter. “Atlanta has not hosted a convention in nearly 40 years. One party has chosen the South to host their convention, and the other has chosen the same region over and over again. This isnt by accident. Its an intentional choice.”
The DNC declined to comment specifically on Dickens letter when reached by Fox News, but pointed to the partys broader efforts in the South and provided a statement from Martin about the convention selection process.
“The 2028 Democratic National Convention will be an inspiring celebration of our partys future nominee, and a critical step on Democrats path towards retaking the White House,” Martin said. “Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia all presented incredibly strong bids to host the convention, and we look forward to continuing to work with them as the DNC makes a final selection in the coming months.”
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The party also pointed to its recent decision to place South Carolina first on its 2028 presidential nominating calendar. The full DNC voted last week to begin the six-state early window in South Carolina on Jan. 22, 2028, with Virginia closing out the slate. In announcing the calendar, the DNC emphasized its racial diversity and cited Census data showing roughly 4.6 million Black people live across the six early states.
Meanwhile, the DNC announced Thursday that Boston, Denver and Philadelphia had advanced as the three remaining contenders to host the Aug. 7-10, 2028 convention, eliminating Atlanta and Chicago from a five-city field. The Democratic National Convention Committee will now undertake a contracts and logistics review of the three finalists, with the process expected to continue for several months before a final selection is made.
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