Washington, DC – Two of Arizona’s competing Democratic U.S. Senatorial candidates, Rodney Glassman and Randy Parraz, are in DC lining up volunteers, donors and support for the party’s nomination.

This morning Emanuel Pleitez hosted coffee for Rodney Glassman that attracted an audience of about 40 folks in the National Press Building.  Glassman has garnered words of encouragement from two of Arizona’s most influential Latinos, Raul Yzaguirre and Dolores Huerta. Glassman also has set up a Congressional Meet and Greet on the Hill at 230 Second St SE from 5:30 to 7pm. This will be followed with fund raiser hosted by DC Young Professionals for Glassman from 7 to 9pm at 1918 17th St NW.  For more information about Rodney Glassman’s candidacy visit: http://www.rodneyglassman.com

Meanwhile Washington politicos Ingrid Duran, Julie Martinez, Maria Meier, Catherine Pino, Oscar Ramirez and Sylvia Trujillo have lined up to host a funder for Randy Parraz this evening from 6 to 8pm at 800 Fourth St SW in DC at the Potomac Place Towers in the first floor reception room. The event is accessible by Metro from the Southwest Waterfront Station. For more information on this event, contact Sylvia Trujillo at diversitytrujillo@yahoo.com or call 202 285 9880.

A note about Rodney Glassman courtesy of Emanuel Pleitez

Rodney Glassman grew up in a family dedicated to building a stronger community. Guided by his father who resided on the board of the local Boy Scout Council and his mother on the board of the local Children’s hospital, Rodney was instilled with the value of "giving back". 

Combining the values of discipline and hard work instilled by his parents, Rodney was asked to move to Tucson to manage his family’s ice skating rink after his Freshman year at Cornell University in Ithaca.  After six years as the General Manager and attending graduate school, Rodney was able to restructure the business to successfully reach profitable margins and later selling the business to local owners.

He has devoted his life to public service, raising more than one million dollars for local children's charities and serving as congressional aide to Congressman Raúl Grijalva.  While on the hill, he focused on small business and agriculture. Today, he also serves as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force JAG Reserve at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

In 2007, Rodney was elected citywide with over 60% of the vote to the Tucson City Council and represented Ward 2.  His endorsements ranged from the Tucson Chamber of Commerce and Tucson Association of Realtors to the Sierra Club and the Pima Area Labor Federation. On the council, Rodney has quickly earned the reputation of an innovative problem-solver who brings people together to get the job done. Tackling Tucson’s water shortage, he championed the nation’s first-ever ordinance that requires new commercial development to harvest and utilize rainwater. Rodney also developed and brought the council together to unanimously require that new Tucson homes include graywater plumbing systems to reuse water for landscaping. These landmark ordinances are now being adopted by cities across the Southwest. Mayors from all over Arizona have invited Rodney to their council meetings to speak and share his method of consensus building around the area of sustainability.

Rodney achieved advanced degrees in business and public administration, as well as a law degree and PhD in Arid Land Resource Sciences from the University of Arizona. Through his work in arid land resource sciences, Rodney has published internationally award-winning research in the area of agricultural education and hands-on learning.   Currently, Rodney and his wife, Sasha, campaign throughout the state to find innovative ways to positively bring people together to solve problems in Arizona.