U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, won reelection, easily defeating Republican challenger Daniel Butierez.
This will be Grijalva's first full term in Congress. She has been in office for a little over a year, after winning a special election last fall after her father, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, died in office in March 2025.
As news of Democratic victories poured in from across the country, Grijalva said the results are a mandate.
“Everyday people are fed up with the corruption, scapegoating, and grifting coming from Trump, his billionaire buddies, and the Republicans who have enabled him. The message is clear. The status quo is over. Now we must get to work,” she said in a statement on social media.
This was Butierez’s third time running for the seat in Arizona's Congressional District 7.
People are also reading…
He ran against Rep. Raúl Grijalva in 2024, and again against Adelita Grijalva in the special election in 2025, losing in both.
Incumbent Adelita Grijalva (D), left, and Daniel Butierez (R), candidates for Arizona Congressional District 7.
Jubilation overtook a huge crowd at El Casino Ballroom Tuesday night, as early returns showed Grijalva winning her race in CD6, and fellow Democrat JoAnna Mendoza running handily ahead of incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Congressional District 7.
“We are going to return Adelita Grijalva as our representative on congressional District 7,” Democratic Tucson Mayor Regina Romero proclaimed as the crowd chanted “Adelita, Adelita, Adelita."
Grijalva, speaking next to the crowd, credited her victory in part to the determination of her volunteer supporters.
“They knocked on doors. They made phone calls. ... You should know that you have my back, and you have the back of my family.
“And this is coming at one of the most difficult times of our lives,” said Grijalva, a clear reference to last year’s lung cancer death of her father, who held the congressional seat his daughter now occupies for the previous 22 years.
Asked Monday whether he would run again if he lost, Butierez said “absolutely not.”
“I’m all done,” he said.
He said he plans to start a podcast with the organizers of 857Tucson, an online conservative media outlet that exists mainly on YouTube and Facebook.
