Charlotte will be the host city for the 2020 Republican National Convention.
The Republican National Committee took a formal vote in Austin, Texas Friday morning and announced the decision a short time later.
The Site Selection Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to recommend the convention be held in Charlotte. The vote, which took place behind closed doors Wednesday morning, was the first of two votes needed to lock the Queen City into hosting the event.
On Friday, the committee voted unanimously to award Charlotte the convention.
After the vote, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles accepted the offer.
"On behalf of all of my colleagues, we accept this offer," Lyles said. "We’re going to show you the true meaning of southern hospitality. We look forward to seeing all of you in 2020, and you’re going to have a wonderful time in our city. I can say on behalf of the citizens of Charlotte that we are a welcoming city."
Lyles released an official statement as well.
I believe this convention conveys a positive message supporting our city’s belief in acceptance and inclusion. This is our opportunity to, once again, put Charlotte in the international spotlight to demonstrate the democratic process and two-party system that we deeply value
— Mayor of Charlotte (@CLTMayor) July 20, 2018
Ron Kaufman, chair of Site Selection Committee, said Charlotte made an impression from day one.
"From the first day we met with officials from the Queen city, we were impressed with their passion, professionalism and leadership,” Kaufman said.
The recommendation came days after the Charlotte City Council narrowly voted to host the convention if it was awarded to the city.
Five members of the council, all Democrats, opposed the event. Six members of the council voted in favor, including four Democrats.
PREVIOUS: Source: RNC Site Committee votes unanimously, recommends Charlotte for 2020 convention
There was also an open forum at the meeting to discuss the hosting the convention. Officials said 132 speakers signed up to speak. Each speaker was granted one minute to speak.
WBTV streamed the meeting in its entirety online and on Facebook. You can watch it below.
FULL COVERAGE: Click here for full coverage of Charlotte's bid for the 2020 RNC
On Friday in Texas, Mayor Lyles said she’s looking at Charlotte’s future in the big picture.
“This is one event and we are using it to recruit other events. The idea is to turn Charlotte into a convention city,” Lyles said in a press conference Friday morning.
During her remarks to reporters, Lyles and her fellow council members in Austin for the vote highlighted the fact that safety has been and will continue to be a top priority in planning for the convention; she said leaders are already discussing how to balance the safety needs with the need to give people the ability to protest during the convention.
I hope that we will be able to have people protest - exercise their first amendment rights - including the people who live in our city,” Lyles said.
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Councilman Ed Driggs, a Republican who helped lead the effort to land the convention, said city leaders are aware of the potential safety issues that come with hosting the convention but still think the convention is a big win for the city.
"We were very clear headed about the political climate right now and the possibilities," Driggs said. "We felt that the benefits outweighed the risks."
Lyles was all but certain about the city’s chance to be named the host of the 2020 Republican National Convention in an interview with WBTV on Tuesday afternoon.
“They will take a vote on who they want to choose and then they’re going to choose Charlotte,” Lyles said. She talked up the importance of what hosting the event will mean to the city. Charlotte will become one of just a handful of cities to have hosted political conventions of both parties, let alone two conventions in the span of less than a decade.
RELATED: Mayor Vi Lyles: RNC 'will choose Charlotte' for 2020 convention
“We are a city that competes nationally and internationally and we are a city that needs to make our strengths known,” Lyles said. “One of those strengths that we have is that we have the ability to host these types of events and to do it in a situation where I think we can be safe. We get to show off how beautiful our city is.”
A big argument for bringing the Republican National Convention to Charlotte is the economic impact, but it's not just the Queen City that could benefit.
In Cabarrus County, the economic impact from the Democratic National Convention in 2012 was around $6 million.
In Concord, there's the Charlotte Motor Speedway that sees a lot of business and hotels and restaurants around the county fill up. That overflow then spills into Rowan County where hotels are also starting to book up.
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper visited Charlotte to discuss grants designed to assist financially-challenged students at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). However, as the governor took questions from reporters, nobody held back when it came to the Queen City and the Republican National Convention.
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"I think it will be good for economic development in the City of Charlotte, and for the state of North Carolina," Cooper said. "I know there are strong feelings on all sides of this. Certainly security and safety should be a top priority."
Cooper was on-hand for the 2012 DNC and is among the hopeful that Charlotte can apply past lessons to avoid potential problems in 2020.
"Charlotte is an amazing, dynamic community that's shown its ability to work for the good of the entire community and our state," the governor said, "and I have every confidence that it can do that."
Another large political convention could mean big gains for businesses in uptown, but some owners have reservations about the possibility.
When the Democratic National Convention came to town six years ago, it meant roads were closed and some locals wanted to stay away from the crowds.
Some business owners saying it hurt them, while others are seeing it as an opportunity to stay busy with lots of people staying in nearby hotels and looking for places to shop and eat.
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The Democratic National Convention had a total economic impact of $164 million but some city council members like Braxton Winston say they want to see research on the impact to individual business in uptown Charlotte.
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