St. Louis lost its bid to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention earlier this month.

On Feb. 1, the Democratic National Committee opted to hold the convention in Charlotte, N.C., leaving out the remaining finalists St. Louis, Cleveland and Minneapolis.

The Democratic Party will nominate President Barack Obama for a second term at the convention, which is scheduled for the first week of September, 2012.

Hosting the Democratic National Convention comes with numerous perks for any city, including tourism, publicity and a large amount of revenue.

According to the DNC, the 2008 convention created $266 million in regional economic benefits for Denver, Colo.

The Democratic National Convention is held every presidential election year to confirm the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

In the past five election years, the convention has been held in Denver, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.

St. Louis was the runner-up to host the upcoming convention.

While Obama won North Carolina in the 2008 presidential election, he lost Missouri to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by only 3,903 votes.

St. Louis has not been without its share of national political events. Washington University is the only institution of higher education to host more than two debates for the Committee on Presidential Debates (CPD). The University hosted the only three-candidate presidential debate in CPD history in 1992 and also held the 2004 presidential debate and the 2008 vice presidential debate.

Senior Kat Berger, former president of the Wash. U. College Democrats, noted the impact that the Democratic National Convention could have had on St. Louis.

“It would have been a really great way to energize the state,” Berger said. “The vice presidential debate on campus a few years ago made everyone really excited. It would be interesting to see if it changed which way the state would vote.”

St. Louis’ still has a chance to host a national event during the 2012 election season. The University has already planned its application to host the CPD 2012 presidential debate.