Officially, there’s no keynote speaker at the Republican convention. But for all intents and purposes, it seems like the Monday night speech given by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, will function as a traditional convention keynote.
Typically, the keynote speech is given by someone seen as an up and coming politician in the party. Let’s take a look back at 25 years of convention keynote speakers and see where they are now.
2012 Democratic Keynote: Julian Castro
At the time, Castro was mayor of San Antonio, Texas. After President Obama won re-election, Castro was appointed to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Now he’s been rumored to be a potential vice presidential nominee for Hillary Clinton.
2012 GOP Keynote: Chris Christie
At the time, Christie was governor of New Jersey. He was re-elected in 2013 with 60 percent of the vote. But when Christie attempted a presidential run in 2016, he failed to earn a single delegate. Christie eventually endorsed presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Christie was rumored to be on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist and Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said Christie was “livid” not to have been chosen.
2008 Democratic Keynote: Mark Warner
At the time, Warner was the former governor of Virginia and was running for the United States Senate. Warner went on to win that seat with 65 percent of the vote, beating former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. Warner has served in the Senate ever since.
2008 GOP Keynote: Rudy Giuliani
Although Giuliani didn’t technically give a keynote speech during a convention shortened by Hurricane Gustav, he gave a keynote-esque speech on the second night of the convention. At the time, Giuliani was the former mayor of New York City who ran for president in 2008. His profile hasn’t changed much since then.
2004 Democratic Keynote: Barack Obama
Obama was then just a State senator from Illinois, running for the U.S. Senate. He went on to win that election with 70 percent of the vote. The speech gave Obama the national profile needed to compete for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, a nomination he later won. Of course, Obama went on to win that election and re-election in 2012.
2004 GOP Keynote: Zell Miller
In 2004, Miller was a member of the Democratic Party while he served in the U.S. Senate, representing Georgia. Miller was about to retire from the Senate and endorsed President George W. Bush for re-election in 2004. Miller actually gave the Democratic convention keynote in 1992.
2000 Democratic Keynote: Harold Ford, Jr.
At the time, Ford was the youngest member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ford served in the House through 2006, when he did not seek re-election as he ran for Tennessee’s open seat in the senate. Ford got 48 percent of the vote, losing to Bob Corker, who remains in the seat today.
2000 GOP Keynotes: John McCain and Colin Powell
John McCain came second in the 2000 GOP primary. He was serving Arizona in the U.S. Senate at the time, and continues to do so today. McCain won the GOP nomination in 2008 but received only 46 percent of the vote and lost to Obama.
At the time, Colin Powell was the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After George W. Bush won the 2000 election, he served as secretary of state for the entirety of Bush’s first term. Powell went on to endorse Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
1996 Democratic Keynote: Evan Bayh
At the time, Bayh was the governor of Indiana. In the 1998 mid-term elections, Bayh was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until he retired at the end of 2010. But now Bayh has announced he will run again for his Senate seat in 2016. Bayh considered running for president in 2008 but ultimately decided against it. He later endorsed Hillary Clinton.
1996 GOP Keynote: Susan Molinari
At the time, Molinari represented a New York district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She resigned from her House seat in 1997 to work for CBS and co-host “CBS This Morning.” She later went into lobbying and is now one of Google’s head lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
1992 Democratic Keynote: Zell Miller
At the time, Miller was the governor of Georgia. He served in that office through 1998, then was appointed to fill an empty seat in the U.S. Senate in 2000 after Sen. Paul Coverdell died. Miller won a special election in November 2000 with 58 percent of the vote. But by 2004, he was set to retire from the seat and gave the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention.
1992 Republican Keynote: Phil Gramm
At the time, Gramm represented Texas in the Senate. He attempted to run for president in 1996 but failed to win the nomination. Gramm eventually retired from the Senate in 2002. Gramm was co-chair of John McCain’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign but he eventually stepped away from the McCain campaign after controversial comments. Gramm endorsed Marco Rubio in 2016, and later endorsed Ted Cruz after Rubio dropped out. Gramm now works for financial services company UBS.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
