Democrat Adelita Grijalva has won the special election to succeed her father, the late Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, in Arizona’s 7th District, becoming the first Latina elected to Congress from the Grand Canyon State.
A former Pima County supervisor, the younger Grijalva was leading Republican small-business owner Daniel Butierez 71 percent to 28 percent, when The Associated Press called the race shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday.
Grijalva’s victory doesn’t change the partisan balance in the House, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority with 219 seats. Democrats will hold 214 seats once the congresswoman-elect is sworn in, and there are two remaining vacancies. Grijalva, though, could provide the vital 218th signature on a discharge petition to bring legislation to the floor calling for the disclosure of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
