Dan Nowicki

The Republic | azcentral.com

Sen. Jeff Flake, the first-term Arizona Republican up for re-election next year, will appear Thursday at a town-hall meeting in Mesa.

Flake's event is set for 7 p.m. at the Mesa Convention Center. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis.

In a nationwide movement that recalls the conservative "tea party" uprising of 2009 and 2010, liberal activists have demanded that Capitol Hill Republicans face them at question-and-answer sessions back home. Some of the meetings have gotten rowdy. In Arizona, no lawmaker has been under more pressure to hold a town hall than Flake, who could have a tough 2018 general-election race, providing that he first makes it through the GOP primary.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Friday took questions via Facebook Live. Freshman Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., has a town hall in Mesa scheduled for Tuesday.

Flake announced the town-hall event on Twitter.

Flake and Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada are viewed by national Democrats as the two most vulnerable GOP senators up in 2018.

Two other candidates already have announced for Arizona's Senate seat: former state Sen. Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City is running against Flake in the Republican primary, and Deedra Abboud, a Phoenix attorney and community activist, is seeking the Democratic nomination.

Other names that have been mentioned as possible contenders include Republican Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWit and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

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