Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be a featured speaker on the opening night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She will join a lineup that includes President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Following Biden’s decision to exit the presidential race in July, Ocasio-Cortez swiftly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, publicly pledging her “full support” to secure Harris’s victory in November. Harris, the party’s nominee, will conclude the convention with her acceptance speech on Thursday night.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August 19-22 in Chicago, Illinois, with the United Center, home to the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, serving as the main venue. Chicago has a long history of hosting the Democratic Convention, with 2024 marking the 12th time, the most recent being in 1996 when President Bill Clinton was nominated for his second term.
For those looking to watch the 2024 DNC, live coverage will be available on the convention’s website, broadcasting from the United Center. The event will air from 6:15 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern (5:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central) on Monday, and from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central) on the remaining days. Additionally, USA TODAY will offer livestream coverage on YouTube each night, from Monday through Thursday.
The DNC has also revealed the nightly themes for the convention, with the overarching title being “For the People, For Our Future.”
The themes for each night are as follow:
- Monday: “For the People”
- Tuesday: “A Bold Vision for America’s Future”
- Wednesday: “A Fight for our Freedoms”
- Thursday: “For our Future”
According to Britannica, “the Democratic Party held its first national convention in May 1832 in Baltimore, Maryland. The party, which had been known since 1798 as the Democratic-Republican Party, nominated Pres. Andrew Jackson for a second term. (The party formally adopted its current name in 1844.) Delegates (representatives of state constituencies) attending the convention declined to nominate John C. Calhoun for a second term as vice president under Jackson (Calhoun had earlier served as vice president under John Quincy Adams [1825–29])—partly because of Calhoun’s support for the doctrine of nullification, which Jackson opposed—and selected Martin Van Buren instead. The convention adopted a rule requiring the party’s nominees to receive the votes of at least two-thirds of all delegates. It also established the “unit rule,” which allowed a majority of a state’s delegates to require that all of the delegation’s votes be cast for a single nominee.”
