Deedra Abboud, long-time lawyer and first-time political candidate, is a Muslim-American running for a 2018 Arizona Senate seat. A recent campaign video published on her Facebook page received a slew of offensive comments. Ironically, the attacks drew more media attention to her campaign than ever before and people from both sides of the aisle are now in her corner.
Her opponent for the Senate seat, Republican Jeff Flake, Tweeted his support for her:
Hang in there @deedra2018. Sorry you have to put up with this. Lots of wonderful people across AZ. You’ll find them. https://t.co/uVfLaAfVV2
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 19, 2017
Originally from Arkansas, Abboud has called Phoenix, AZ, her home for the past 2 decades. She has a professional history in law and civil rights activism, and her platform promotes universal healthcare and LGBTQ rights.
Abboud – who was raised Southern baptist and converted to Islam two decades ago – says it was the hateful rhetoric that inspired her to run for office. Her ultimate goal is to encourage coalition-building among diverse communities and parties through human-to-human conversations.
On Tuesday, we gathered at Encanto Park & took a stand against hate. Thank you #Phoenix for a beautiful demonstration of #loveforall pic.twitter.com/Lw09zwA44k
— Deedra2018 (@deedra2018) August 24, 2017
So, essentially, she says bring on the vitriol, because that’s exactly what will make her even more dedicated to her work.
We love seeing more people of diverse backgrounds, genders, and religions running for office. It’s thanks in part to non-partisan efforts like She Should Run that are helping those folks get some much overdue traction. She Should Run’s newest campaign is to get 250,000 running for office by 2030 – we think it can happen.
BIG NEWS! Why have we been happy dancing all morning? Our new campaign to get #250Kby2030 just launched!https://t.co/ECxku1JG9W pic.twitter.com/DWscMWfg6y
— She Should Run (@SheShouldRun) July 18, 2017
