Dan Nowicki

The Republic | azcentral.com

Deedra Abboud, a Phoenix attorney, is seeking the 2018 Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

She hopes to win the seat currently held by incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

Abboud stressed the need for unity, saying "anger and resistance can only take us so far."

Emphasizing a message of unity, Deedra Abboud, a Phoenix attorney and community activist, on Monday announced she will seek the 2018 Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

Abboud, 45, formally launched her candidacy at a brief 10:30 a.m. event with supporters at the Japanese Friendship Garden in downtown Phoenix.

"The journey that I have decided to take on today is not just for the people who look like me or sound like me, but for all Arizonans," Abboud told onlookers. "Because we cannot continue to go backwards on this path that weakens our children's education, strips health care from people who need it the most, locking up and breaking up families, and, once again, empowering big banks that caused the worst housing crisis in Arizona.

"I am with the growing majority of Arizonans who know that anger and resistance can only take us so far," she added. "We need to unite to move our families forward. We need to unite to move Arizona forward. We need to unite to move America forward."

During her 15-minute event, an upside-down Arizona flag behind Abboud flapped in the wind. A spokesman said it was an error, and not a political statement.

1st Dem to enter Senate race

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is the incumbent. Flake already is facing a GOP challenge from second-time Republican Senate candidate Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City. Abboud is the first Democratic candidate to announce for the race.

Others mentioned as possible Senate candidates include Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWit, a Republican who is close to President Donald Trump, and three-term U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.

"We always expected opponents in both the primary and general elections," Steve Voeller, a longtime Flake adviser and confidant, said in an email.

Abboud has been registered to vote as an independent, but a campaign spokesman said she re-registered as a Democrat Monday in advance of filing official candidacy papers.

"This isn't about left and right. It's about today and a tomorrow that unites us, gets the work done," Abboud said in her announcement. "I'm ready to have the tough and candid conversations that we need in Arizona so that we can progress. I'm ready to hold our president and his administration accountable and to challenge elected officials who are more interested in keeping their job than in doing their job."

Asked about Trump's decision Thursday to launch a cruise missile attack on Syria in response to the suspected use of chemical weapons by Bashar Assad's regime, Abboud zeroed in on Trump's attempts to temporarily block refugees from Syria and certain other countries.

"We have a president who wants to ban refugees," Abboud said. "Ban refugees who are experiencing atrocities that, thank God, America has really never experienced. And we never want to experience those. But at the same time, we have a president that is singularly partnershiping with Russia to bomb the very people who are already dying on the ground and we are denying refuge to."

Russia and Iran, allies of Assad's, over the weekend warned the United States to back off Syria.

An attorney and an advocate

Abboud is the founder of an organization called the Global Institute of Solution Oriented Leadership and the recipient of the Martin Luther King Award in Tempe and Phoenix, according to the short bio that accompanied the news advisory about her Senate candidacy. As a lawyer, she focuses on immigration and estate planning.

In 2003, Abboud helped open the first Arizona office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. She was the group's local executive director at the time.

"When 9/11 shook our country to the core, I became an advocate," Abboud said Monday. "Not just because Muslims were facing anger and fearmongering, but because I am an American. Because I have always believed in our compassion and our strength in our country that can come together."

As an advocate, Abboud said she witnessed other problems such as employment discrimination, schools failing to stop bullying and "elected leaders determined to undermine our most vulnerable communities."

"In the face of such challenges, I spent more than 15 years fighting alongside our diverse communities to make Arizona accommodating and loving to all people," she said.

Abboud said she also is "ready to fight for equal pay for women."

"Because I am a woman and I have experienced getting paid less than my male colleagues," she said. "I'm ready to make sure that working families have paid sick leave so they can take care of themselves and those they love."