Adelita Grijalva wins Democratic primary for Arizona US House seat held by her late father

By SEJAL GOVINDARAO Associated Press PHOENIX AP Adelita Grijalva won the Democratic primary Tuesday for a southern Arizona U S House seat long held by her father the late U S Rep Ra l Grijalva one of the the greater part senior and progressive power brokers on Capitol Hill Adelita Grijalva will face Daniel Butierez a painting company owner who won the GOP primary in a Sept special ballot for the seat in the heavily Democratic th Congressional District Ra l Grijalva s death in March left the seat wide open for the first time in over two decades Grijalva was a champion of environmental protections and reliably went to bat for immigrants and Native American tribes He routinely breezed past GOP challengers in the deep-blue district which stretches across the majority of the state s territory line with Mexico spanning six counties and parts of Tucson Adelita Grijalva dominated the field of Democratic hopefuls seeking the nomination She disclosed lowering the cost of living standing up for immigrant rights and protecting access to Medicaid Medicare and Social Guard are among her top priorities Grijalva also racked up a lengthy list of heavyweight endorsements including Democratic U S Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez independent U S Sen Bernie Sanders and several state and local leaders This is a triumph not for me but for our locality and the progressive movement my dad started in Southern Arizona more than years ago Grijalva declared in a comment Butierez who captured more than one third of the vote against Ra l Grijalva last year also easily clinched his party s nomination winning every county by large numbers He announced he s excited by the results and more optimistic about his chances this go-around because he s been actively campaigning and he believes he can win over more Democrats in the district Daniel Butierez who is seeking the Republican nomination in the race to replace the late Rep Ra l Grijalva in Arizona s th Congressional District talks to reporters while awaiting results Tuesday July in Tucson Ariz Kelly Presnell Arizona Daily Star via AP The biggest thing is I m not running to represent just the Democrats or just the Republicans I m running to represent everybody he declared If Adelita Grijalva wins the general referendum she would be the first Latina to represent Arizona in Congress In a district that is percent Hispanic it is critical that voters see themselves in their representatives and Adelita is the fighter they need in Congress mentioned Rep Linda S nchez chair of BOLD PAC the Hispanic Caucus campaign organization Related Articles US sends third-country deportees under secrecy to the small African kingdom of Eswatini Trump to put tariffs of over on smaller nations including those in Africa and the Caribbean ICE flexes authority to sharply expand detention without bond hearing Pentagon ends deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles Republicans press leaders of Georgetown Berkeley and CUNY on antisemitism complaints Grijalva has also pushed back against notions that she s an establishment candidate and has pointed to her own credentials serving on local governing boards She ran against former state lawmaker Daniel Hernandez digital strategist and reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx Indigenous activist and scholar Jose Malvido Jr and retired strength care executive Patrick Harris Sr Grijalva led her next closest rival Foxx by about percentage points when The Associated Press declared her the winner In the GOP primary Butierez ran against off-road motorcycle businessman Jimmy Rodriguez and restaurant owner Jorge Rivas The results of Tuesday s primary will remain unofficial until they are certified on July by the Arizona Secretary of State s office The seat will not decide control of the U S House but it is one of three vacancies in heavily Democratic districts that when filled in special elections this fall will likely chip away at Republicans slender - majority in the chamber Democrats have a nearly - ratio registration advantage over Republicans in the th District