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Dallas In Running For 2016 GOP Convention

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three cities in the West and three in Ohio are among the eight finalists to host the Republicans' presidential nominating convention in 2016.

Party leaders will consider the Republican National Committee's list of potential host cities in the coming months.

The cities are Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, Kansas City, Mo., and three in Ohio -- Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

The finalists largely represent swing states that will help decide the 2016 presidential election.

According to the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, former Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and DCVB's President Phillip J. Jones will travel to Washington D.C. this weekend.  The group will present their pitch for Dallas to the Republican National Convention Site Selection Committee on Monday, March 3.  RNC Chair Reince Priebus will discuss the bidding process at 11 a.m. (local time) on Monday.

By mid-March, the RNC Site Selection Committee will announce the cities selected for site visits, which could include all eight finalists.  The site visits will take place in late Spring and the list will be narrowed so that the full RNC can vote for a winner by late summer or fall.

The RNC already is considering several changes to its presidential selection process. GOP officials expect to hold their convention in the early summer of 2016, roughly two months sooner than has become the norm.

Democrats have yet to identify potential convention sites.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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