U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner in May, the party announced this week.

The progressive former law professor won election to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and was reelected to her third term last year. In 2020, she finished fourth in Colorado’s Democratic presidential primary before withdrawing later that week.

Known as the inspiration behind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Warren serves as ranking member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and also sits on the Senate’s Finance, Armed Services and Aging committees.

“As billionaires take over the government and President Trump breaks his promises to lower costs for families, we have to stand up for our values and make sure our country works better for working people,” Warren said in a statement.

“I can’t wait to join Colorado Democrats and Sen. (John) Hickenlooper as we kick off the fight to hold Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Republicans in Congress accountable in the midterm elections. That work starts now,” she said.

State Democrats plan to hold the 8th annual Obama Gala on May 31 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The party said tickets, which were priced last year from $225 up to $10,000 for a table, go on sale later this month.

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib said he was honored that Warren had accepted the party’s invitation to headline the event.

“Sen. Warren has redefined what it means to champion working families and small businesses, combat corruption and hold irresponsible corporations accountable for charging junk fees and taking advantage of consumers,” Murib said in a statement.

Added Murib: “Her fearlessness in the face of power remains an inspiration, and we could not be more excited to hear her insights about fighting for working people.”

Colorado Republicans announced last month that former top Trump administration official and podcaster Steve Bannon will headline the GOP’s annual Centennial Dinner, set for March 28, on the eve of the party’s biennial reorganization meeting.

State Democrats traditionally held their big annual banquet — renamed the Obama Gala in 2018, a few years after the party ditched the longstanding Jefferson-Jackson Dinner appellation — in conjunction with the party’s reorganization meeting in March or April. Murib, however, told Colorado Politics the party decided to move it this year to avoid a spring blizzard and to make sure legislators wouldn’t be tied up until late night at the State Capitol.

The speaker at last year’s state Democratic fundraiser was U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who was also the party’s featured speaker in 2012 before his election to the Senate.

Previous speakers at the Democrats’ dinner include U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chair of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol; U.S. Rep. Grace Meng and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York; and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California and former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who shared the stage when they were both House members.