Charlotte, North Carolina, has been chosen to host the 46th Democratic National Convention in 2012.

In July, Minneapolis was named one of four finalists to host the convention, along with Cleveland, St. Louis, and Charlotte.

In partnership with the City of Minneapolis, Meet Minneapolis-the city's official convention and visitors association-submitted a bid in May to host the 2012 convention.

“Congratulations to Charlotte on being selected to host this great event. Any assistance they need, we're here to help,” Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said in a statement.

“We're obviously disappointed, but having been a finalist for this selection proves once again that Minneapolis has what it takes to host any major event,” Rybak said. “Trust me, we're going to continue to compete for them. Every time Minneapolis vies for this caliber of high-profile event, we strengthen the infrastructure needed to be competitive in attractive conventions and new business to town that in turn create good jobs that grow our economy.”

When St. Paul hosted the 2008 Republican National Convention, it drew an estimated 45,000 people to the Twin Cities and generated an economic impact of more than $168 million. Local leaders had said that hosting the Democratic National Convention would have also provided an economic boost to the area.

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