What happens at a convention like the 2024 RNC in Milwaukee?

Republicans and Democrats alike hold national conventions to select presidential and vice presidential nominees. The Republican National Convention coming to Milwaukee in mid-July is expected to attract 50,000 visitors. The Democrats meet in Chicago Aug. 19-22.

Here's what to know about national political conventions.

What happens at a convention like the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee?

In order to become a party's presidential nominee, a candidate has to win a majority of delegates, which happens through state primaries and caucuses.

Delegates from around the country then head to the national convention, where they can vote to confirm the candidates.

The presidential nominee also typically makes an official announcement at their party's convention about who will run for vice president.

It is possible that no candidate would win the majority of a party's delegates through primaries and caucuses, in which case delegates could choose the nominee through multiple rounds of voting at what is known as a contested or brokered convention.

When in 2024 did Donald Trump become the presumptive Republican presidential nominee?

Former president Donald Trump earned enough delegates to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination by March 12. He is set to officially become the nominee at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which will run from July 15-18.

What types of delegates are there?

At a national convention like the RNC, there are two main types of delegates. There are those who are known as pledged or bound delegates, which means that they are required to support the candidate who won the primary or caucus in their state. There are also unpledged delegates, also known as "superdelegates," who can support any presidential candidate they choose.

There are 2,429 delegates selected to participate in the RNC, including 41 in Wisconsin's delegation.

What is the point of a convention if a candidate has already won enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee?

Even if it's already clear who will become the party's nominee, conventions are still held. National conventions give parties the opportunity to conduct their official business and to share their ideas with the media and the public.

One of those items of business is adoption of the party platform, a series of goals and policy positions. The Republicans abandoned that tradition in 2020 but RNC officials indicated that business would resume at the Milwaukee convention.

"These conventions are still important. But they are important as media events, and as events that convey what the party is — what it looks like, what its objectives are — and can impact how people feel about the party and therefore who they vote for," Heather Hendershot, a professor at Northwestern University who has researched media coverage of conventions and the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, told the Journal Sentinel.

Conventions also give parties an opportunity to unify.

Are national conventions in-person events?

Typically yes.

But as many in Milwaukee remember, the 2020 Democratic National Convention broke the mold — and broke some hearts. It was supposed to be the city's moment in the national spotlight but the COVID-19 pandemic led to the convention becoming largely virtual, with some events being held as far away as Delaware.

(Thankfully, Milwaukee got its turn in the national spotlight the following year for a different reason when the Bucks won the national championship for the first time in 50 years. Bucks in Six!)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What happens at a convention like the RNC?