Progressive Democrat Adelita Grijalva won a special election Tuesday in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, as called by The Associated Press. Not only did her victory chip away at the GOP’s already-slim majority in the House, but it also could force Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to allow a vote on requiring the release of unclassified files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Johnson also faces a tougher road as he pushes legislation that supports President Donald Trump’s agenda.
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What it may mean for Trump’s agenda and Epstein files
Grijalva defeated Republican Daniel Butierez in an election to complete her late father’s term in the House. Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva died earlier this year due to lung cancer complications.
Adelita Grijalva raised significantly more money than Butierez in the heavily blue district, where former Vice President Kamala Harris won by double digits in the 2024 presidential election.
Once sworn in, Grijalva will give the Democrats 214 seats in the House compared to the 219 held by Republicans.
Perhaps more significantly, she is likely to become the 218th and deciding member of Congress to sign a so-called discharge petition to force a House vote on requiring the Justice Department to release documents on the Epstein case, according to The Washington Post.
Johnson declined to schedule a vote on the matter and, earlier this month, described the discharge petition — led by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — as “superfluous” and predicted a vote calling for the documents’ release would fail.
Even if the discharge petition gets enough votes in the House, the bill would still need to pass the Senate, and President Trump would have to sign it for it to become law, which is an unlikely scenario.
The GOP’s narrower margin creates other challenges for Johnson, who at times has faced opposition from some within his own party over issues such as the debt ceiling as well as the release of the Epstein files. Grivalva’s win means Republicans can ill-afford to lose any votes from within the party if they hope to pass Trump-approved legislation.
Policy issues and endorsements
According to her website, Grijalva campaigned on affordable housing, workers’ rights, expanding financial assistance for low-income families and resistance to the president’s economic policies.
She received endorsements from two of the most prominent progressives in Congress: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Other special elections upcoming
The Arizona Democrat’s victory comes after Democrat James Walkinshaw won a special election in Virginia to replace Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat who died in May.
A pair of special elections is set for later this year to replace Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, who passed away in March, and Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee, who resigned this summer. Texas’s special election is scheduled for Nov. 4 and Tennessee’s is slated for Dec. 2.
