Adelita Grijalva wins Democratic primary election for Raúl Grijalva’s seat in Arizona’s CD7

PHOENIX — Voters in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District chose the Democratic and Republican nominees for the late U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s seat on Tuesday.

Adelita Grijalva — Raúl Grijalva’s daughter and a former Pima County supervisor — emerged as the winner of the Democratic CD7 special primary election, while Daniel Butierez won the Republican nomination.

Raúl Grijalva served southern Arizona in Congress for over 20 years until he died in March at age 77 from complications with his cancer treatment.

CD7 spans most of the Arizona-Mexico border and includes parts of six counties: Cochise, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma. It covers parts of Tucson and the city of Yuma and even extends north into Avondale, Gila Bend, Goodyear and Tolleson in the West Valley.

Who else was running in Arizona CD7 special primary election?

Adelita Grijalva beat out four other Democratic hopefuls:

• Daniel Hernandez: A former state lawmaker who helped save former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords’ life after she was seriously wounded in a mass shooting in 2011.
• Deja Foxx: A reproductive rights advocate and influencer who spoke during the Democratic National Convention last year.
• Jose Malvido Jr.: An Indigenous activist and scholar.
• Patrick Harris Sr.: A retired health care executive.

Grijalva received 62% of the votes reported Tuesday night, followed by Foxx at 21%, Hernandez at 14.3%, Harris at 1.6% and Malvido at 1.1%.

In the GOP primary, Butierez had 60.7% of the votes reported Tuesday, followed by Jorge Rivas at 25.1% and Jimmy Rodriguez at 14.2%.

Butierez, a painting company owner, was the Republican nominee in 2024, when Raúl Grijalva was handily reelected to what turned out to be his final term.

Libertarian Andy Fernandez Jr. and No Labels hopeful Richard Grayson were write-in candidates for their respective parties’ primaries.

Because the district is a Democratic stronghold, Grijalva’s victory in the CD7 special primary election makes her the heavy favorite in the Sept. 23 general election.

The seat is one of three U.S. House vacancies in heavily Democratic districts that, when filled in special elections this fall, will likely chip away at Republicans’ 220-212 majority in the chamber.

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