Grijalva was the youngest woman ever elected to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board in 2002,serving for 20 years,making her one of the longest-serving TUSD Board members in history.[4][5] In 2008 she received Advocate of the Year from the Arizona School Counselors Association for her tireless advocacy to keep counselors in schools.[4] She voted against firing the co-founder and director of Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies program,and was the only board member who voted against shutting down its Mexican American Studies classes in 2012.[6]
Pima County Board of Supervisors
Grijalva was elected to the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 2020 with 73.60% of the vote.[7] In office,she focused on recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic;centering safety,affordable housing and strong job creation as key to recovery efforts.[8] She served as Chair and Vice-Chair during her time on the board,making a strong commitment to working with community to create a coalition to address the biggest issues facing Pima County,particularly housing people can afford,education,climate,water resiliency,and healthy and safe communities.[5]
Grijalva successfully pushed for the board to open meetings with a land acknowledgement to the indigenous Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe.[9] She was appointed chair of the board in 2023,previously serving as vice chair for the two years prior,making her the first Latina to hold the position.[10][11]
On March 31, 2025, Grijalva announced that she was launching a campaign for the seat vacated by the death of her father, longtime U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva, to pursue the Democratic nomination for Arizona's 7th congressional district in a 2025 special election.[14] Grijalva met her signature goal in the first five hours of her congressional campaign, making her the first candidate to appear on the ballot.[15] Grijalva said Congress should be reining in President Donald Trump as he cuts the federal government workforce, claws back grant dollars and guts agencies like the U.S. Department of Education.[14] She criticizes plans for a new copper mine at Oak Flat, a project that refused to consider concerns by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and others that the land was necessary for their ceremonies.[16] She received endorsements from leaders including Bernie Sanders, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and a number of Tucson City Council members, Pima County Supervisors, and state lawmakers.[17][18][14]
On July 15, 2025, Grijalva won the Democratic primary, defeating Deja Foxx, Daniel Hernández Jr., and two other lesser known candidates.[19]
On September 23, 2025, Grijalva won the special election by a 2–1 margin, defeating Republican Daniel Butierez (whom her father had defeated the previous November), Green Eduardo Quintana, and No Labels candidate Richard Grayson.[20] She is the first Latina to represent Arizona in Congress.[21]
Delayed swearing-in
Grijalva was not immediately sworn in. The delay in her swearing in, at 46 days and counting, is the longest for any member who entered the House after winning a special election. The previous record holder, Representative Jimmy Gomez who won a special election in 2017, requested to delay his swearing in due to family issues he was facing. He was sworn in 35 days after his election victory.[22]
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has given various reasons for the delay:
Although the election result was not in dispute, Johnson's initial excuse for the delay was to wait until the election result was certified. Johnson did not use this excuse to delay swearing in James Walkinshaw, Jimmy Patronis, and Randy Fine, who, similarly to Grijalva, were elected in special elections during the 119th Congress, but were sworn the day after their victories.[23]
Johnson then said she could not be sworn in until the House returned from recess, in spite of a precedent in the 119th Congress in which new members were sworn in the day after their special election, while the House was not in session.[24]
Grijalva's swearing-in was scheduled for October 7 but was delayed when Johnson declared a "district work period" from October 7–13. The swearing-in was rescheduled for October 14 which he likewise postponed,[28][29] even though, on this day, the Arizona Secretary of State certified the election result, satisfying Johnson's original criterion.[30]
On October 16, Johnson said that he will not bring the House back into session until the government shutdown is over.[31]
Democratic response
Democrats criticized the delay as political, motivated by Grijalva's promise to sign the discharge petition to force a vote for the release of the complete Epstein files. Her signature on the petition would be the 218th signature, which is the minimum number of signatures required for the petition to go into effect and force a vote.[32][33][34]
On October 16, Grijalva posted a video to X in which she reported that she had received the keys to her office, but had not received passcodes to her government computers nor a government email address.[31] On the same day that Grijalva posted the video, Johnson responded that he will not swear her in until the government shutdown is over, adding that "she should be working for her constituents. I don't know what she's doing. I keep seeing their political stunt videos, and they're knocking on the door, and she's not there. She should be in her office."[31]
On October 21, Arizona Attorney GeneralKris Mayes, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit against Johnson, seeking to force him to swear in Grijalva under the rationale that the delay is depriving the residents of Grijalva's district of congressional representation. Grijalva joined the lawsuit.[35]
On September 24, 2025, the day after winning the special election, she announced on Major Garrett's podcast, The Takeout, that she will run for reelection in 2026.[36]
Political positions
Israel–Palestine
In October 2023, the Pima County Board of Supervisors was presented with two resolutions regarding the Gaza war. One motion reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defense and stood with their retaliatory efforts, while the other mirrored the same type of language, except showed support for the Palestinian people.[37][38] Although Grijalva attempted to add language around supporting civilians and humanitarian aid, it was "respectfully declined" by Sharon Bronson and Steve Christy, two other Pima County Supervisors.[39]
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