Republican convention team gives Kansas City a look

A team dispatched by the Republican National Committee came to Kansas City on Friday to check on technical promises made by local officials trying to land the party’s 2016 convention.

The group of seven people was sent by the RNC to check on convention facilities, the availability of nice-enough hotel rooms nearby, transportation and the other logistics needed to put on the presidential nomination show of a modern political convention.

“They were verifying particular aspects on the bids that we either wanted more clarification on or wanted to see in person,” said Ryan Mahoney, an RNC spokesman.

Kansas City is among six cities still vying for the convention, competing with Las Vegas, Dallas, Denver, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

At a meeting in Memphis next month, the RNC will review the results of visits to different locations. Mahoney said the site selection committee will probably decide a week later by conference call which cities it will send higher-ranking officials to for another tour.

The organization raising money and organizing the bid to bring the convention, KC RNC 2016, issued a statement Friday saying that “the region meets and in many cases exceeds” the party’s requirements for the convention.

This story was originally published April 25, 2014 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Republican convention team gives Kansas City a look."