The Georgia Republican Party is expected to announce that the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University will host the March 1 Republican presidential debate, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.
Georgia GOP spokesman Chris Kelleher would not confirm that the 833-seat theater in the Fairlie-Poplar district of downtown Atlanta would be the scene of the CNN-produced debate but said that "ideally we would like to host it in downtown Atlanta for accessibility purposes."
Kelleher said no contracts have been signed, but three people with knowledge of the agreement said the Georgia State facility will be where the four remaining GOP candidates will gather for a nationally televised forum -- if they gather.
Thus far, neither the GOP nor CNN will confirm whether the four candidates -- Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul -- have committed to appear. A spokeswoman for Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker and Georgia congressman, said her candidate is definitely in. The other campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
Georgia State officials declined to comment. A CNN spokeswoman told the AJC they were not ready to announce a location for the debate.
The Georgia Republican Party last week announced that it would partner with the Ohio GOP for the debate, to allow Ohio Republicans to post questions to the candidates in Atlanta via a live video feed.
Landing the debate is a huge coup for the Rialto and Georgia State University and will give the downtown campus a major marketing boost as media outlets from around the world will likely cover the debate. CNN and other major news outlets also typically broadcast live from outside the debate.
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