It’s never too early to talk about the next national convention locations. We just got a tweet from the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, with this little nugget:

The City of Columbus expects to be a serious player in the competition for a political convention four years from now.

City leaders will begin exploring the possibilities in a meeting next month with representatives of both political parties.  

Paul Astleford, CEO of Experience Columbus said, “There is some serious interest on the part of the conventions to come here.”

Astleford said the city’s strategic approach in growth over the past decade including the addition of new first class hotel rooms will work in the city’s favor. 

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, called Ohio the “ground zero” of American politics.

“I do think somewhere in Ohio would be a great place for a convention and I’d be very interested in looking at a city in Ohio – that would be great,” he said.

The last political convention in Ohio was 1936 in Cleveland. Astleford believes Columbus might now have an edge over other cities. – Ohio Votes

Update: Redfern has previously tweeted about Cleveland as a contender, so Columbus joins Nashville, Salt Lake, Newark, Indianapolis, Dallas, Phoenix and Cleveland in being discussed as contenders for hosting a convention in 2016.