four cities made bids to the republican national committee (rnc) for proposals to host the 2008 convention. those cities were cleveland, ohio, minneapolis-saint paul, minnesota, new york city, new york, and tampa-st. petersburg, florida. the rnc selection committee made its recommendation for minneapolis-saint paul and on september 27, 2006, the rnc made its decision public that the 2008 republican national convention would be held in minneapolis-saint paul. the rnc made their decision earlier than originally scheduled because the democratic national committee (dnc) also had minneapolis-saint paul as a finalist among bidding cities. (after the rnc's selection, the dnc removed minneapolis-saint paul from consideration which left the dnc with only two cities to choose from: new york city and denver, colorado.) this is the second time the minneapolis-saint paul area held the republican national convention—the first was held in 1892.