ATTLEBORO -- A large crowd of politicians and constituents attended an annual breakfast meeting for area Democrats Saturday, where the universal message was to unite in the party's quest to put a Democrat back in the governor's office.

`` It's been 20 years since a Democratic governor was elected in this state. If we stick together and work hard, we're going to do it,'' said Attorney General Tom Reilly.

Reilly, who is widely expected to run for governor in 2006, spoke to the crowd of more than 100 local Democrats who attended the Attleboro Democratic City Committee's event.

It was the breakfast's largest attendance yet since its inception eight years ago, despite a limited number of election candidates and a last-minute cancellation from U.S. Sen. John Kerry who was in Rome for the pope's funeral.