The “Blue Wave” struck the El Casino Ballroom in South Tucson on Tuesday night.
In a midterm election that pitted the affordability agenda against top-down partisan loyalty, Arizona voters placed their bets on the Democrats.
Supporters wearing different shades of blue filled the historic dance hall decorated with blue balloons, streamers and posters, for an election night party with Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva and other Democratic candidates who were on the ballot. Campaign officials said about 200 individuals RSVP’d, though more than 300 appeared to be in attendance.
Attendees cheered as election results rolled in from around the country, including Texas and Michigan, which were projected onto a screen at the party.
Grijalva – who represents Arizona’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives – earned 72% of the vote over Republican challenger Daniel Butierez after the first batch of ballots were dropped around 8 p.m. “Winning elections is only half the job. Now we have to deliver on what voters elected us to do and that starts with undoing the damage caused by Donald Trump and his administration,” Grijalva told supporters.
She also called for an end to the war in Iran, the repeal of what she described as “Trump’s disastrous tariffs,” the reversal of cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP and the abolishment of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.) Grijalva’s platform has largely emphasized lowering costs for working families, protecting access to health care, supporting immigration reform and strengthening environmental and water protections in Southern Arizona.
Immigration was the sharpest divide between Grijalva and Butierez, in a district that includes roughly 350 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Butierez is supportive of ICE and the enforcement of immigration laws, in addition to supporting tax relief for working families, reducing federal spending and expanding domestic energy production, as well as increasing health care competition and price transparency.
This was the third time Butierez has run as the Republican nominee in the CD7 race, previously losing to Adelita Grijalva’s father, the late Congressman Raúl Grijalva in 2024, and to Adelita Grijalva herself in last year’s special election.
This will be Adelita Grijalva’s first full term in office, after serving only 11 months as a representative.
She assumed office one year ago after waiting 50 days to be sworn in.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leadership explained the delay was due to the House being out of session and a federal government shutdown.
Grijalva, Attorney General Kris Mayes – who was also up for reelection – and other House Democrats argued that Speaker Johnson intentionally stalled the oath because her seating would make her the 218th and deciding signature to release the Epstein files.
“I think that we just…we had a really untenable situation,” Grijalva said. “Didn’t have a budget, so we’re trying to, like, build the plane as we’re flying at the same time.”
During a press gaggle with reporters, Grijalva said she didn’t know what it felt like to be a part of the majority in the House, and that she was feeling very excited. “What I’m going to try to do is bring more members of Congress down to the Tohono O’odham Nation so they can see this is what’s going on, this is the border that we’re talking about here,” she said.
Grijalva also told reporters that she is excited to work together with JoAnna Mendoza in Congress – though the race for CD6, in which Mendoza is the Democratic nominee, had not yet been officially called as of press time.
The Grijalva machine
Mayor Regina Romero also addressed the crowd on Tuesday night, referring to the “Grijalva Machine,” celebrating the congresswoman and her late congressman father, whom Romero said was a mentor who taught the importance of giving to people and their needs and how to run “amazing” campaigns.
The late congressman Raul Grijalva died in March last year due to complications from cancer.
He served 12 terms in the US House of Representatives, representing Arizona districts starting in 2003.
The El Casino Ballroom also holds cultural significance for the Grijalva family and broader community.
Campaign officials told AZPM that the late congressman held his election watch parties at the dance hall. At one event, the late Dolores Huerta was once a guest speaker.
“A year and a half ago, we began this journey to finish the remainder of my dad’s term in Congress. 18 months and three elections later, the people of Southern Arizona have elected us to our first full term in the U.S. Congress,” Grijalva said. “From the bottom of my corazón, muchas gracias.”
