Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn into Congress on Wednesday, more than seven weeks after she won a special election for the Tucson-area House seat, ending a tumultuous and partisan tug-of-war to get her seated.
Grijalva won the seat in a Sept. 23 special election, but Speaker Mike Johnson had kept the House in recess, citing the government shutdown, and ignored demands from Democrats to seat her during pro forma sessions. The 7th District seat has been vacant since March, when Grijalva’ father, the late Arizona Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, died.
She received several rounds of sustained applause by Democrats when she first appeared on the floor and directly addressed the controversy swirling around her seating as Johnson looked on from the dais.
