Starting yesterday, 2,600 delegates from every state filled the seats at the Q.
"They're really taking care of business here," said Tom Sutton, Political Analyst for Newschannel 5.
Among them was Carter Mateer.
"I'm so excited, even seeing the speakers I see on TV all the time, it's just amazing to be like wow, I'm actually watching them," he said.
The 18 year old is an alternative delegate from Colorado.
"The alternates are essentially like the understudy in a theatre play they stand in if a delegate can't make it," Sutton explained.
One of the youngest, just fresh out of high school, Lori Mateer, his mom, tells me he's always just had a thing for politics.
"He's blown me away since he was born, but at 10 when he found this passion, he brought us all on board."
In Colorado, Carter started off as the underdog in the race, but using every network he could think of, he beat out more than 60 potential delegates for one of the 6 seats.
"I had like thousands of flyers, just a bunch of yellow flyers and I was just handing them out and just trying to meet as many people as possible," he said.
Sutton explains that's exactly what it takes to get in the door.
"So for every state to become a delegate you have to get involved with the political party...and so this is where someone who even at the age of 17 could potentially become a delegate."
But it's not all glitz and glamour like you'll see inside the convention, all of the delegates have to pay a pretty hefty price to sit in their spots.
"So it's a great honor to be chosen to be a delegate, but you still have to pay your way and so you have to pay for your hotel, transportation," said Sutton.
But regardless of the cost and the time it takes to get here, young Carter tells me the journey has been all worth it.
"I'm loving it, I'm having a really great time," he said.
The Republican Party asked Carter last year to take a year off school to run w campaign office in his city, he turned them down and instead plans to attend the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall while keeping up his delegate responsibilities.
