Ohio's 3 largest cities seek 2016 political conventions

CINCINNATI (AP) — Ohio’s three largest cities have hopes of landing a Democratic or Republican national convention in 2016.

Officials in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati all figure that Ohio’s importance as a presidential swing state will help their cause.

All three say they have good convention facilities, hotel space and transportation links needed to host such large conventions.

The Dayton Daily News reports that the capital city of Columbus has gotten an early jump in preparing to make a pitch for a convention, while Cincinnati is a latecomer in the competition.

Columbus officials say Nationwide Arena could be the convention site, with plenty of other facilities and hotels nearby.

“When you look at Tampa and Charlotte [the 2012 conventions’ host cities], our convention center is larger than both of their centers,” said Brian Ross, who leads Experience Columbus. “We have a very walkable destination. The proximity of our arena to our convention center is definitely a benefit of ours.”

Ohio’s Democratic Party and Republican Party leaders don’t agree on much, but both say they’d like to see the state host their conventions.