Alabamians will play major roles both on-stage and behind the scenes during this year’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) and Republican National Convention (RNC).
Held in Milwaukee, the DNC kicked off on Monday at 11:00 a.m. CT. The convention will end after presidential nominee Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday night.
The RNC is scheduled to occur in Charlotte from August 24-27.
Both conventions are occurring mostly in virtual formats due to COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing guidelines.
The opening days of the Democratic convention will feature two prominent Alabama elected officials delivering remarks.
As previously reported by Yellowhammer News, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) will address the convention on Monday evening. He will speak sometime between 8:00 p.m. CT and 10:00 p.m. CT, shortly before U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former First Lady Michelle Obama, respectively.
RELATED: Doug Jones: Kamala Harris ‘exactly what we need’
It was also announced over the weekend that Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin will be one of the “rising stars” to help keynote proceedings on Tuesday.
The DNC keynote speech, normally delivered by a single emerging leader, will instead be delivered jointly by 17 individuals this year. The theme of the speech is reportedly “Leadership Matters.”
Woodfin reacted to the selection in a tweet.
I’m honored and humbled to join 16 fellow servant leaders in presenting the @DNC keynote address this Tuesday. #LeadershipMattershttps://t.co/2yIynr1k8r
— Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) August 16, 2020
On the Democratic side of the aisle, Alabama’s John Anzalone is the pollster for Biden’s presidential campaign and is thus likely to be heavily involved in messaging strategies highlighted at the convention this week. Anzalone, one of the nation’s leading Democratic pollsters, is based out of Montgomery with ALG Research.
You can watch the Democratic convention proceedings online here. Alternatively, network and cable news television stations will have special coverage of the convention each night.
When it comes to the RNC later this month, a key Yellowhammer State connection is Andrew Smith, who is serving as the GOP convention’s director of official proceedings. Smith holds three degrees from the University of Alabama: a Juris Doctorate, MBA in Financial Risk and BA in Political Science.
Additionally, Alabama native Cliff Sims is leading messaging and speechwriting for the Republican convention. A former White House staffer under the Trump administration, Sims is now the CEO of Birmingham-based Telegraph Creative.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
