Atlanta Left Off The Shortlist Of 2028 DNC Host Cities

By Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder

August 21, 2026

The Democratic National Committee has narrowed its list of host cities for its 2028 national convention — and Atlanta did not make the cut.

The Democratic and Republican national conventions are held every four years, during which delegates officially select that year’s presidential nominee. Both Atlanta and Chicago made it to the Democrats’ list of final five host cities before being eliminated. Boston, Denver and Philadelphia were selected as finalists for the 2028 convention.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, who visited Atlanta in April as part of the selection process, said the event would be “a critical step” toward electing a Democratic president in 2028.

“Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia all presented incredibly strong bids to host the convention,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with them as the DNC makes a final selection in the coming months.”

The announcement came as a disappointment to many Atlanta Democrats, who were hoping to break the nearly four-decade hiatus since the city last hosted the convention in 1988. Georgia has never hosted a Republican national convention.

In a letter obtained by the Recorder, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens accused Martin and other national Democrats of being “unwilling to do the bare minimum to support the base of the party,” highlighting GOP efforts to redistrict that critics say will dismantle Black voters’ electoral power across the South.

“They are afraid to leave their comfort zone and blind to the fact that the South is the answer,” he wrote. “They are abandoning Atlanta, abandoning the South, and once again abandoning Black voters.”

State Sen. RaShaun Kemp, an Atlanta Democrat, also expressed disappointment with the decision.

“Georgia is the cradle of the Civil Rights movement and ground zero where Republicans are going to try again to disenfranchise and silence Black voters, and the Democratic Party made a horrible decision in excluding Atlanta,” he said. “They had an opportunity to show that the base of this party is respected and their voices need to be heard, and Atlanta should have been at the top of their list.”

The Democratic National Committee declined to comment on Dickens’ letter.

But Charlie Bailey, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said his organization would continue working to elect Democrats during the midterm elections, regardless of where the convention is held.

“Georgia is the premier battleground state in the country,” Bailey said. “The road to the White House in 2028 will come straight through Georgia whether or not the Democratic National Convention does.”

The Georgia Recorder, an independent, nonprofit news organization, connects public policies to stories of the people and communities affected by them through a steady mix of in-depth reporting, blog posts, and social media updates on the latest news and progressive commentary. The Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.