Paula Aboud
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Paula Aboud (born March 20, 1950) is an American politician who was a member of the
Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...
, representing the 28th District. A
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
, she served as the Senate's
minority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...
.


Early life

Aboud was born in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
. She attended Tucson High School and earned a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in English from the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
. After receiving a teaching certificate, she taught English and coached girls'
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
and
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
at Rincon High School for several years. Afterward she followed her family in entering the real estate field for five years, before relocating to
Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...
, where she coached college tennis and
squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...
at
Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...
. An illness in her family led her to return to Tucson to work as property manager for her family's real estate business.


Political career

In addition to her professional career Aboud was a long-time activist for the Tucson Democratic Party. On January 3, 2006, she was appointed to the Arizona State Senate by the
Pima County Pima County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1 ...
Board of Supervisors, following the resignation of
Gabby Giffords Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun violence prevention advocate. She served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when ...
, who stepped down to run for the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
. She represents the 28th legislative district, centering on
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
. Following her appointment, she was elected in 2006. In the Democratic primary election on September 12, she saw off a challenge from
State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...
Ted Downing, and faced no Republican opponent in the general election. She was re-elected unopposed in 2008 and faced only
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
challengers in 2010 (including Ted Downing), prevailing easily. In March 2012, Aboud announced her candidacy for Congress, seeking to run in the Democratic primary for Giffords' House seat in the newly renumbered 2nd congressional district. She withdrew from the race shortly thereafter and endorsed
Ron Barber Ronald Sylvester Barber (born August 25, 1945) is an American politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2012 to 2015. Barber, a member of the Democratic Party from Arizona, served as district director for U.S ...
. Under Arizona's
term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...
law, she was unable to run for re-election to the senate in 2012. In 2016, Aboud was elected a Justice of the Peace for Pima County district 6. Aboud was censured by the state Supreme Court in 2017 for allegedly “stealing” an answer key for a test for new judges. She was found not guilty of that charge but was censured for her actions. In 2021, after leaving office, Aboud helped Pima County redistrict the Justice of the Peace districts. The Board of Supervisors selected her map which eliminated one district & one judge, thereby saving the county over $500,000.


Personal life

She was the first openly Lesbian legislator and one of many openly
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
members of the
Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the ...
, serving alongside Senators Ken Cheuvront (D-Phoenix) and Jack Jackson Jr. (D–Window Rock) and Robert Meza (D–Phoenix), as well as Representative Matt Heinz (D–Tucson). Her campaigns have won the backing of the
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund LGBTQ+ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and LGBTQ Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of out LGBTQ+ public officials in the United ...
.


References


External links


Senator Paula Aboud – District 28
''official State Senate website''
Paula Aboud for State Senator
''official campaign website''
Profile
at
Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...
* ''Follow the Money'' – Paula Aboud *
20082006
campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Aboud, Paula 1950 births Living people American lesbian politicians Democratic Party Arizona state senators LGBTQ state legislators in Arizona Women state legislators in Arizona University of Arizona alumni Lesbian Christians Tucson High School alumni 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature