Number of GOP senators opting to skip Republican National Convention grows

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The number of GOP senators who will not be attending the Republican National Convention is steadily increasing.

At least five Republican senators have decided to skip the event next month, including Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who announced his decision on Monday. On Tuesday, Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee joined him in sharing that they have no intentions to attend.

The convention, scheduled for late August, was originally supposed to take place in North Carolina. However, the party decided to move the event, during which President Trump will formally accept the Republican nomination for president, to Florida after North Carolina’s governor expressed doubts over whether the state would be able to host a full convention due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Grassley will be missing the convention for the first time since he was elected to the Senate 40 years ago in 1980. He and Alexander, ages 86 and 80 respectively, belong to an age group in which the coronavirus has the most severe effect on patients.

Collins told CBS News that she will not be attending the convention because she has never attended the party’s convention during a year in which she was up for reelection.

The city of Jacksonville has issued a mandate requiring people to wear masks indoors. It is unclear if those attending the convention will be granted an exception under the mandate if it’s still in effect by the convention date.

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