Mile High Highlight: Elbra Wedgeworth on Bringing the 2008 Democratic National Convention to Denver

When then-Denver City Council President Elbra Wedgeworth decided to campaign to bring the Democratic National Convention to Denver in 2008, she had no idea that convention would nominate the first African American candidate for president. And then, not only did she manage to win the DNC for Denver — on the hundredth anniversary of the last time the convention had been in the city — but she got to see Barack Obama walk across the stage at Mile High, in the heart of the city where she'd been born and raised.

"As a Black woman in America, I never thought I'd witness that," she says.

Now, sixteen years later, a Black woman is about to accept the Democratic nomination as a candidate for President of the United States; President Joe Biden, who accepted the nomination to be Obama's running mate in Denver, will speak at the opening-night event. As the 2024 Democratic National Convention gets underway in Chicago, we reached out to Wedgeworth to share her memories.

What made you decide to go after the Democratic National Convention?

Elbra Wedgeworth: I had been thinking over many years about bringing the Democratic National Convention to Denver. I know that previously there had been others pursuing it; this time, however, I strongly felt we had the infrastructure (Pepsi Center, Colorado Convention Center, the hotels, cultural venues, restaurants, etc.), so we should go for it! Also, I love my city of Denver and state of Colorado; as a native, I truly wanted to put us on the national political stage. It was our time!

In 2006, Governor Howard Dean, who served as chair of the Democratic National Committee, happened to be visiting Denver, and I asked what it would take for Denver to submit a formal bid to be considered. Governor Dean told me that the DNC would be sending out the bid requirements to those cities that were interested in submitting their formal bid later in the year.

My first thought was I had to go to Richard Scharf, president/CEO of Visit Denver, because we would have to submit the official Bid Book, which would include the hotel rooms, venues, etc. Richard did not hesitate to help me and was always very supportive. The Bid Book ended up being 1,500 pages and weighing at least ten pounds!

I next went to the late Steve Farber, Denver's most influential attorney and fundraiser, because we would have to raise funds for the expenses of the bid process; again, he was totally on board and very encouraging. I went to then-mayor, now U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and his then-chief of staff and general counsel, Cole Finegan. At first, the mayor was apprehensive; however, Cole knew me well enough to know that I was going to pursue this bid, and Mayor Hickenlooper totally came on board. I will always be so thankful to him for that.

Keep in mind I was doing this work and also serving on Denver City Council; in fact, I was council president. However, I put my heart and soul into this process.

I had some people who were totally doubtful and asked me to not do this at all. However, I saw that light that they could not see and I did, so I moved forward. It was meant to happen.

Everything was coming into place, and there were over thirty cities that expressed initial interest; that was reduced to fourteen cities and eventually seven that submitted official bids. Then it came down to Denver and New York City. This would been only the second political convention in Denver after 100 years (the last being in 1908...talk about great karma!). New York had hosted numerous conventions; however. that did not deter me. I knew in my heart we would pull it off!

What do you think tipped the scales in favor of Denver?

We promoted the 2008 Democratic National Convention as the "New West" of Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming. These states would be vital battlegrounds to a Democratic victory in November 2008 for the presidency.

Then I received the call: It was Denver! I was so speechless. Now the incredible work was to begin.
What kind of obstacles did you encounter? What kind of encouragement did you get?

It came down to raising the money: We would have to raise over $70 million. It was such a continuous primary battle between senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton: We could not get either of them to focus on the Democratic convention at all; they were busy trying to defeat each other! And we had fundraising deadlines to meet. So we decided to host "Education Forums" and had sponsorships to raise the needed funds from those events; we obtained national speakers, presidents and CEOs of companies to participate.

We wanted this to be the first "Green" convention, and we supported B-Cycle to encourage delegates to use them and sustain their program after the 2008 DNC was concluded.

I served as the president/chair of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Host Committee and was the first woman of color to do so, which was a huge responsibility. We had to hire staff; coordinate 5,000 volunteers; coordinate the hotels and cultural venues for parties; deal with traffic; establish a protest area for protesters; coordinate with international press.... It was exciting but very challenging, especially to coordinate safety and security with police, fire, sheriff departments and obtain Homeland Security funding for needed equipment. There were so many moving parts to coordinate, and we had to do it right; many people were depending on us. And bottom line, we had to have the support of the people of Denver and Colorado.

Was it all worth it? Were you able to enjoy the convention?

Absolutely, from the first day at Elitch Gardens hosting the press and delegates. It was hard; however, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I was so proud of our host committee — which included Senator Ken Salazar, Mayor John Hickenlooper, Representative Diana DeGette and Governor Bill Ritter — and our host staff, with Mike Dino, chief of staff; Selena Dunham, deputy chief of staff; and so many others.

What was your favorite moment at the 2008 DNC?

I gave a welcome speech to the delegates and guests on Thursday night, and later that evening, Senator Obama gave his nomination speech. It was going to be the largest crowd to hear a nomination speech since John F. Kennedy. I thought to myself: Look where we have come as a nation, to have an African American man be the presidential nominee. As a kid who grew up in Curtis Park in a housing project, that my parents were able to witness this happening, I was so proud.

When Senator Obama walked across the stage at Invesco Field that night, I cried with joy and pride to be here for this celebration and that I had a small part making this happen.

Do you have memories of the DNC in Denver? Send them to [email protected]. And watch the Obama campaign's video here.