The Pima County Democratic Party is proud to welcome US Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) to Tucson for the First Annual Morris and Stewart Udall Dinner.

Special Guests (invited): CD 7 Congressman Raul M. Grijalva, District 3 Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson, TUSD School Board Member Adelita Grijalva (daughter of Raul), and CD 8 House candidate Ron Barber.

Former Democratic National Committeeman and Board of Regents President Fred DuVal will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

Keynote speaker: U.S.Senator Mark Udall from Colorado (son of Morris, nephew of Stewart)

Tickets – $85 General Public, $75 Precinct Committee People, $750 Table of Ten

RSVP – rsvp@PimaDems.org, (520) 326-3716

5:00 pm Registration
6:00 pm Dinner

Address: Desert Diamond Hotel & Casino, 7350 S Nogales Hwy,
Tucson 85756

It is election year for Congressman Grijalva, Supervisor Bronson, and CD 8 U.S. House candidate Ron Barber (special election primary on April 17 and general election on June 12). U.S. Senator Mark Udall was here in Tucson on January 8, 2012 speaking on Congresswoman Gifford’s behalf at the Centennial Hall memorial event for the six who died on 1/8/11.

U.S. Senator Mark Udall

He also asked the hundreds of loyal Democrats in the room to “carry on for my dad Mo”. He spoke of how the previous Bush Administration had “driven the bus into the ditch” economically, and that it was not time to “give them back the keys” to the bus, but to get the bus out of the ditch & put the bus into “D” for drive (and Democrat), not “R” for reverse (and Republican).

Also speaking tonight were Rep. Chris Deschene, candidate for Arizona Secretary of State, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (CD 8 U.S. House), and finally Attorney General Terry Goddard, running for Governor. Goddard joked that something was “wrong with our immigration policy” to allow the Udalls (Mark and Tom) to leave the State of Arizona. Tom Udall is former U.S. Rep. Stewart Udall’s son and now U.S. Senator of New Mexico. Mark and Tom’s fathers Mo and Stewart Udall were brothers, and both represented Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Goddard said there was “no gap of enthusiasm in Southern Arizona”, and that there was “no bigger push than now” to take back the state and bring the “prosperity train” back to Arizona. (Incidentally, Goddard is a graduate of Rincon High School while Giffords is a graduate of University High School, which shares the same campus in Tucson.)

Also attending tonight ‘s rally were Rep. Daniel Patterson (LD 29 House candidate), Bruce Wheeler (candidate in LD 28 House), Dr. Macario Saldate (candidate in LD 27 House), Vince Rabago (former AG candidate), and Tim Sultan (former candidate in LD 28 House). Congressman Raul Grijalva (CD 7) was initially scheduled to attend tonight, but was unable to due to a scheduling conflict.

Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party Jeff Rogers also spoke of the tremendous activity in the four Democratic headquarters in Southern Arizona . He emphasized that this was a “pivotal time” in Democratic politics in Arizona, due to the necessity of electing Terry Goddard to Governor, in order for him to veto bills coming from the Republican Arizona legislature.

Pima County Democratic Party headquarters in Tucson is located at 4639 E. 1st. Street, phone 520-326-3716. Website is www.pimadems.org.