L.A. Enters Race to Become Site of GOP Convention in 1988

Los Angeles made it official Wednesday. It will bid to be the site of the 1988 Republican National Convention.

The Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau voted unanimously to seek the GOP presidential nominating convention for August, 1988. And the bureau established a separate, nonprofit organization to focus solely on financing and other details of the huge project.

The action had been anticipated for months.

First Lady Nancy Reagan has been widely rumored to favor hometown Los Angeles for the convention, which would be her husband’s last as President. But convention officials said they have not heard directly from her.

“That’s your rumor, not mine. We’re going all out for this. We’re not counting on any inside track,” said Emmett C. McGaughey, a businessman and visitors bureau official who was named Wednesday as chairman of the new nonprofit convention organization.

At the same time, McGaughey said Los Angeles will not bid for the 1988 Democratic National Convention because the city’s Convention Center is booked solid during the rest of that summer.

McGaughey said Los Angeles will file its official bid to the Republicans on June 6 and then prepare the city to welcome the GOP site selection committee. He said major hotels in the city are cooperating by setting aside the thousands of rooms needed for politicians, delegates and reporters.

Los Angeles last hosted a presidential nominating convention in 1960, when John F. Kennedy was chosen by the Democrats as their nominee. At least nine other cities are competing with Los Angeles for the 1988 Republican convention.