Adelita Grijalva, the daughter of the late Arizona Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, prevailed over four fellow Democrats in Tuesday’s primary for the special election to serve out the remainder of her father’s term.
A former Pima County supervisor, the younger Grijalva was leading with 62 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race for Arizona’s 7th District at 11:19 p.m. Eastern time. Her nearest opponents, progressive social media influencer Deja Foxx and former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez, trailed with 21 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Grijalva enters the Sept. 23 special general election as the heavy favorite in the deep-blue southern Arizona district, which stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border and extends into Tucson and the Phoenix area. She would be the first Latina congresswoman from Arizona if elected.
Awaiting her in September will be Republican small-business owner and 2024 nominee Daniel Butierez, who won a three-way primary Tuesday. Grijalva’s father, a liberal stalwart, defeated Butierez by 27 points to win a 12th term last fall before he died in March from complications related to his lung cancer treatment.
The Democratic race reflected some of the divisions roiling the party nationally, especially over age and experience. Foxx, a 25-year-old newcomer to electoral politics and a former Kamala Harris campaign staffer, sought to portray Grijalva as the establishment candidate relying on her family connections.
“We’re building generational change,” Foxx, who was seeking to become the first Generation Z woman elected to Congress, posted on social media. “This race is about more than politics. It’s about building a future where everyone can get ahead.”
But Grijalva, 54, rejected such characterizations, saying she would preserve her father’s progressive legacy while walking her own path. Her campaign drew endorsements from a cross section of Democratic Party powerbrokers, including prominent progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders and Arizona’s more moderate senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego.
“If legacy means fighting for the most vulnerable, standing up to corporate greed, defending immigrants, advancing environmental justice and protecting tribal sovereignty, then yes, I wear that legacy with pride,” Grijalva said in an opinion piece published earlier this month by the Arizona Daily Star.
Grijalva also pledged to take on the Trump administration and has repeatedly denounced the president’s immigration crackdown, a key issue in the border district.
Hernandez, 35, was making his second bid for the House, after an unsuccessful run for the neighboring and more competitive 6th District in 2022. The former state representative is also a onetime congressional intern, who was credited with helping save former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ life following a 2011 mass shooting in Tucson. His campaign leaned heavily on the economy, a strategy he said Democrats must embrace to win over working-class Latinos who have shifted away from the party in recent years.
Other candidates in the Democratic primary included activist Jose L. Malvido Jr., who called for a higher minimum wage and universal health coverage, and retired businessman Patrick Harris Sr., who proposed a $1 billion cap on individual wealth through establishing a “greed tax.”
There are currently three vacancies in the House, where Republicans enjoy a narrow majority. Besides the Arizona contest, there will also be special elections this fall for the seats of the late Democratic Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia.
Republican Rep. Mark E. Green is expected to resign his Tennessee seat on Sunday, further shrinking, at least temporarily, his party’s edge in the chamber.
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