Originally Published: 25 AUG 23 13:04 ET

Updated: 25 AUG 23 13:46 ET

By Daniel Strauss

(CNN) — Republican Party officials have selected Houston to host their party’s 2028 presidential convention, approving the location during a closed meeting on Friday.

The announcement is well ahead of the usual schedule for either party in picking a convention city, and the 2024 convention won’t happen until July of next year.

“I am excited to announce Houston as the host city for the 2028 Republican National Convention,” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “After a smart business decision made by the RNC last spring to allow us to select the next convention city earlier than ever, we are looking forward to seeing Houston in the spotlight come 2028.”

The site’s location is also a bit of a departure from recent convention locations; Milwaukee will play host in 2024, while Cleveland was the location of the 2016 convention. Wisconsin and Ohio are traditional battleground states, though Ohio has shifted rightward since 2016. Texas, meanwhile, is undeniably a reliably Republican-leaning state. (The 2020 convention, held during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, was scaled back, with events and meetings taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Washington, DC, among other locations.)

Houston won the convention over four other contenders, including another in Texas, Dallas. The other cities under consideration were Miami, Nashville, and Jacksonville, Florida.

RNC members approved a rule change over a year ago that authorized committee members could begin picking a convention city over six years out.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.