New PCDP Officers elected
Bonnie Heidler, a tech-industry veteran and Pima County Democratic Party Legislative District 10 chair, is the county party’s new chair, succeeding Alison Jones, a Tucson hydrogeologist, who declined to seek reelection.
In a Zoom election during PCDP’s December 19 reorganization meeting, more than 400 precinct committeepeople (PCs) chose Heidler by a wide margin.
“I am honored to have been elected chair of the Pima County Democratic Party,’’ said Heidler, 67. “I want to thank outgoing Chair Alison Jones. Alison transformed PCDP during her two-year term, making PCDP financially solvent and left a legacy of inclusion for years to come. We have a big task in front of us for 2022: reelecting Senator Mark Kelly, taking back the governor’s mansion, flipping the state legislature, and preparing for 2024.’’
“Redistricting will be our biggest challenge for 2021,’’ Heidler said. “It impacts political control of Arizona for the next decade. A decade of Republican control in Phoenix has hurt so many Arizonans in so many ways. We’re committed to government that works for the people, not for special interests.’’
During Jones’s tenure, PCDP raised record amounts of money, enabling Democrats to take five of six countywide offices and four of five supervisor seats – and play a crucial role in clinching Arizona for the Biden-Harris ticket.
Jones endorsed both Heidler and her slate of officers, all of whom won: teacher and union member Nathan Davis, First Vice Chair; retired scientist Kalyanraman Bharathan, Second Vice Chair; retired University of Arizona administrator Caroline Garcia, Treasurer; accounting-firm executive assistant Morgan Graham, Recording Secretary, and environmental lawyer Priya Sundareshan, Corresponding Secretary.
LD10, with 49 precincts, covers Midtown and East Tucson, north of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Heidler ran on LD10’s accomplishments during her tenure as chair, which included flipping a Republican Arizona House seat for the Democrats, raising a $10,000 election war chest, and increasing the LD’s volunteer base to 800, which enabled extensive voter outreach. She also headed the committee of PCDP LD chairs.
Heidler became politically active after the 2016 election, joining Indivisible, a national grassroots movement to resist the Trump agenda. She then became a PCDP PC, and was elected LD10 chair in 2018.
A Los Angeles native, Heidler holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University, Northridge, and a master’s in public administration from Pepperdine University. She retired from Hewlett-Packard as a project manager in 2014, and for eight years owned a beading store in Colorado Springs.
She and Michael Heidler, her husband of 43 years, moved from Colorado to Arizona in 2006. She has a stepson and a step-grandson. The Heidlers and their golden retriever live in east Pima County, near the Tanque Verde Loop.