EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso will host the 2028 Libertarian National Convention after the city was selected in a close vote by the Libertarian National Convention Committee.

County party chair David Marino said El Paso beat out Richmond, Virginia, for the event, adding that El Paso’s location on the U.S.-Mexico border played a role in the decision.

“Well, I think like the current political situation with the border and ICE and stuff like that, I think that really made it a key location that we can bring our delegates here and show them what the border is actually like,” Marino said.

The convention is expected to bring at least 2,000 delegates, candidates, and visitors to El Paso, potentially generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in economic impact.

The El Paso County Libertarian Party said the convention will also be where the Libertarian Party will nominate its presidential ticket “at no taxpayer expense,” describing the convention as “a privately funded, voluntary gathering.”

The 2028 event will also mark the first time the Libertarian Party nominates its presidential candidate before the major parties, the Republican and Democratic Conventions, hold their taxpayer-funded primaries.

Organizers said the convention will be open to the public.

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