Democratic presidential debates setting up shop in Philly

In anticipation of next year’s presidential election, the Democratic National Convention Committee is celebrating its Philadelphia launch on Thursday. The opening of the official Philadelphia office comes just days after the first Democratic debate that occurred on Tuesday night. 

The DNCC will begin its Philadelphia operation at 1 p.m. with a press event at Minuteman Press, a union press shop owned by South Philadelphia businessman Jude Arijaje. Arijaje will join Mayor Michael Nutter to welcome Convention CEO Reverend Leah D. Daughtry and the DNC to Philadelphia, according to a media advisory released Tuesday.

Afterward, Daughtry is also expected to discuss opportunities for local businesses like Minuteman Press to become more involved in the upcoming Democratic convention.

Preparations for the DNC , where party delegates will formally nominate a candidate to run for president, have been underway since February, when the Democratic National Committee announced that the conference would take place in Philadelphia. In April, Neumann University hosted a panel called “Preparing for the Democratic National Convention: Logistics, Economics, Security and Legal Considerations” to discuss handling the logistics of holding the event in downtown Philadelphia. Panelists included Visit Philadelphia CEO Meryl Levitz and executive director of the World Meeting of Families Donna Crilley Farrell.

Many viewed last month’s papal visit as a dry run for the Democratic National Convention, which is expected to draw anywhere from 45,000 to 60,000 people to Philadelphia over the course of four days in July. Like the papal visit, the Democratic National Convention has been declared a National Special Security Event, a designation given to public events that the Department of Homeland Security considers potential terrorism targets.

As such, the Secret Service will maintain a presence in Philadelphia throughout the conference, including metal detectors, although public security measures will not be as intensive as they were for the Pope.

“I suspect it will be like past RNC [Republican National Convention] and DNC … contained to one or two locations,” Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday.

Philadelphia  tourism authorities will be organizing 6,000 to 10,000 volunteers to help delegates get around the city, Levitz told The Inquirer.  Visit Philadelphia also plans to expand services available on visitphilly.com and expects to open eight visitor centers to help travelers locate restaurants, hotels and retail options over the course of the Democratic convention.

The 2016 conference will take place July 25 to 29 at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.

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