Seeking to harness some of the national uproar over Arizona’s new immigration law, the state’s likely Democratic candidate for governor this fall and the chairman of Arizona’s Democratic Party visited New York last week.

The visit, paid for by the Arizona state party, was intended to cultivate political donors and to raise the profile of Terry Goddard, Arizona’s attorney general and the presumed Democratic candidate for governor.

Mr. Goddard, a Navy veteran, Harvard graduate and former mayor of Phoenix, had private meetings and spoke at a luncheon on Friday at the Harvard Club of New York. The audience of 45 included lawyers and bankers, some with roots in Arizona and others who said they were simply alarmed by political trends there.

Also attending were some prominent Democratic donors and fund-raisers, including Sarah and Victor Kovner of New York.