TUCSON, ARIZONA—Former Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva won the Democratic Primary in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District on July 15 for the Special General Election on Sept. 23 to fill the vacancy created by the death of her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

The district, which covers most of southern Arizona along the U.S. border with Mexico and portions of the City of Tucson, as well as suburban areas near Phoenix, was represented by Raúl Grijalva for over 22 years.

Its heavy Democratic lean means that Adelita Grijalva is likely to be specially elected to the 119th Congress for the remainder of her father’s term.

The official tally, as of 9 p.m. MT on Election Night, showed Grijalva with approximately 62 percent of the vote, compared to just 20.6 percent for Deja Foxx.

The race was called by the Associated Press at 8.20 p.m. MT.

Grijalva, 54, was long favored to win and led in most opinion polls. However, she faced a strong late challenge from 25-year-old Foxx, an abortion activist and social media influencer, who narrowed the polling gap by 25 percentage points in the last month of the campaign.

“I want to thank the voters of this community for being incredibly insightful. ... This is what’s important,” said Grijalva in her victory speech at the El Casino Ballroom in Tucson.

“I would go up to doors, and people would say: your dad helped my dad. ... Being present in our community is important, and people don’t forget that. ... I stand on the shoulders of giants,” Grijalva added.

Grijalva was endorsed by dozens of top Democratic officials in Arizona. Both of the state’s U.S. Senators supported her campaign, as did the country’s top two progressive leaders, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and dozens of other elected officials and interest groups affiliated with the party.

Father’s Legacy

Voters in the district, who spoke with The Epoch Times as they dropped off mail-in ballots or cast their votes on Election Day, largely attributed Adelita Grijalva’s appeal to her father’s legacy.

Raúl Grijalva served as chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for 10 years from 2009 to 2019 and was seen as a progressive and Hispanic icon.

“She’s progressive and she’s got a lot of experience in politics, and I supported her father,” said Danielle Wellborn, a voter in Avondale, Arizona, who supported her candidacy.

Adelita Grijalva was a member of Tucson’s school district board for nearly 20 years and a Pima County Supervisor for four years.

“I’ve known her before, and her dad. I like the dad and so I supported the daughter because I'd think she ... will vote for things in Congress the same way as him,” said Victor Silverstein, a voter in Tucson, Arizona, as he left the polling station after casting his vote.

Silverstein said he had not heard of Foxx at all before casting his vote.

Sanders, AOC Endorsements

Grijalva heavily leveraged her father’s name, image, and likeness in ads and other campaign material. Beyond that, however, the endorsements of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were big factors that propelled progressive voters to her side against Foxx, who also ran as a progressive. Sanders and AOC recorded several videos urging voters to back Grijalva.

“Let me be clear: Adelita is the progressive candidate in this race,” said Sanders in an endorsement video for Grijalva.

Those endorsements appear to have made a difference with progressive voters, who described a tough choice between candidates that was resolved by the endorsements.

“It was very close,” said Nayeli Duncan, a voter in Avondale, who attributed “the endorsement by Bernie and AOC” as the reason she backed Grijalva.

“For me, it was the endorsement. [Raúl Grijalva] didn’t make a difference,” she said.

“I’m a real big supporter of Bernie Sanders, and he endorsed her, so that’s why [I backed Grijalva],” said Wellborn, a self-described millennial voter. She said she also thought about voting for Foxx. “I know she’s progressive, [but] she wasn’t really clear on her policies a lot, and she’s pretty young.”

“I was definitely undecided until today,” said Miranda Lopez, a voter in Pima County. “There is value in people having experience ... more so than the reasons why people are running, and I think they both have good reasons for running.”

Foxx’s Youth Appeal

Voters who supported Foxx described themselves as being impressed with her youth and social media appeal. They said that the Democratic Party needed to be younger and more progressive in order to win.

“I support her policies, but really, it’s just refreshing to see someone so young who’s experienced and passionate,” said Kelly Smith, a 63-year-old voter in Tucson who backed Foxx.

He lamented that “the average age of Congress right now is the highest it’s been since the ‘80s,” and said he hoped Foxx would “serve as an example for other young people to go ahead and run for office.”

“I like the idea she’s my age, and I like the idea of just getting new blood into Congress. I think it’s necessary in all forms of politics, honestly,” said Lily, an independent voter in Tucson after casting her ballot. “There’s a fire in her that I think really spoke to me.”

“The age of the candidates, and how much skin they have in the game [is relevant],” said Hallie Bucha, a social studies teacher at a middle school in Tucson, after she voted.

Much of Foxx’s campaign was waged on social media, where she gained her fame. Lily said she heard of Foxx on TikTok and Instagram, which led to her vote.

Jerry, an elderly and tribal voter who supported Grijalva, said that youth in his family supported Foxx for this reason. “She’s young and she liked the way that [Foxx] spoke,” said Jerry of his daughter.

Political activist David Hogg’s advocacy for Foxx centered on the question of age. Hogg, who briefly served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee before resigning, has sparked considerable controversy over his decision to support primary challenges against leading Democrats.

His organization, Leaders We Deserve, spent over $150,000 on advertising for Foxx’s campaign.

“If elected, she would be the first Gen Z woman in Congress, and she is exactly who we need,” said Hogg in an endorsement video.

High Turnout, Voters Lament Trump

In a press conference on Election Day, Arizona’s Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) said that voters in the district had outperformed the norm for special election turnout.

“These are very special circumstances,” said Fontes, noting that Pima County—the location of Tucson, from which Grijalva and Foxx both hail—had an early voting turnout of 39 percent.

Many voters received mail-in ballots and, instead of voting in person on Election Day, dropped off their ballots at drop boxes or early polling stations.

Voters almost uniformly cited President Donald Trump as a concern. They expressed great opposition to legislation signed by Trump on July 4, once known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

“This new law that just got passed with Medicaid [reforms] ... that’s a huge concern for me,” said Lily.

“Healthcare and Social Security,” said Bucha, referring to the Medicaid reforms in the bill as problematic. Both Foxx and Grijalva spoke out against the bill.

Immigration was another significant issue during the campaign. The Trump administration’s mass deportation initiatives have affected southern Arizona considerably, where much of the population is of Mexican origin and is connected to people who may be unlawfully in the country.

“Immigration is the one thing, for me, that just overshadows everything,” said Duncan, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Mexico who said that she feared for her own status in the country under Trump.

The issue of illegal immigration was widely attributed as a reason for Trump’s victory in Arizona during the 2024 presidential election and remains a challenge in spite of his assumption of the presidency.

“We don’t have control of the border, really, even now, no matter what [the] president comes in and says,” said Paul, a Republican voter and federal immigration law enforcement officer in Tucson, speaking to The Epoch Times outside a polling station. “Six months isn’t going to take care of it all. Not at all. You need a whole term, if not two terms, to deal with an issue.”

The district includes several Native American reservations, and tribal matters were on those voters’ minds considerably. Several voters backed Grijalva because of her advocacy for tribal issues.

“The biggest things we’re facing is water rights, because water in Arizona’s becoming very scarce, ... and tribal gaming,” said Francisco Munoz, a tribal voter and member of the Pascua Pueblo Reservation.

“[Others] really didn’t talk anything about, you know, tribal sovereignty ... but Adelita did.”

“She, Grijalva, says she’s gonna help stop the [mines],” said Jerry, referring to mining on native lands. “All the other ones didn’t really talk about it,” he said.

Grijalva will face the Republican nominee in the general election on Sept. 23.