Dem
47
GOP
53
Yesterday, the good people of AZ-07 headed to the polls to pick candidates for the special election to replace Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D), who died in March. The results are in, and it wasn't close.
We'll start on the Democratic side, since that's the one that matters when you're talking about a D+13 district. Here are the results with 72.6% reporting:
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Adelita Grijalva | 31,389 | 62.3% |
| Deja Foxx | 10,225 | 20.3% |
| Daniel Hernandez | 7,402 | 14.7% |
| Patrick Harris | 790 | 1.6% |
| Jose Malvido | 542 | 1.1% |
Adelita Grijalva is 54 and is, of course, the daughter of Raúl. She's quite progressive, as was her father, and her main opponent was Foxx, who is also quite progressive, but much younger at 25. Grijalva's campaign was largely anti-Trump; Foxx's was largely anti-establishment (including anti-Democratic-establishment).
Here are the results on the Republican side:
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Daniel Butierez | 8,734 | 59.3% |
| Jorge Rivas | 3,819 | 25.9% |
| Jimmy Rodriguez | 2,178 | 14.8% |
Kudos to the 15,000 or so souls who ventured to the polls to anoint their sacrificial lamb of choice. Butierez is an... unusual candidate; his platform basically had two planks. The first was about combating fentanyl, which is certainly agreeable, but is clearly something that has left politicians on both sides of the aisle completely flummoxed. The second plank was railing against government overreach, in particular a federal court system that can scoop people up and prosecute them unjustly, with there being little hope of relief. This is also agreeable, but... have you checked the letter on the ballot next to your name, Mr. Butierez?
Is there anything to be learned from this election? Not much, we would say. The Democratic side of the contest took on a vaguely Mamdani vs. Cuomo dynamic, including a late surge for Foxx. But while Grijalva is part of a political dynasty, like Cuomo is, and while there was a generation gap between candidates in both elections, the fact is that Grijalva is not a centrist like Cuomo is and does not have a track record of problematic behavior like Cuomo does. Indeed, because Grijalva is herself plenty progressive and because she is also brown, she and Foxx largely split the "Bernie" vote. And that, plus the moderates and centrists is enough for... well, a 40+ point win.
If readers really want a lesson, it's this: Because special elections happen on a fairly tight timeline, and because they attract a wonky, mostly very-politically-invested electorate, they strongly favor the relatives of the candidate being replaced. Sometimes it's their spouse, sometimes it's their kid, sometimes it's their sibling, but there may be no better way to get to Congress than to try to replace mom/dad/sis/bro. Ask the Dingells; Rep. Debbie (D-MI) replaced her husband John (D-MI), who replaced his father John Sr. (D-MI), such that the family has held "their" seat for 92 years and counting, having assumed it on the same exact day that Franklin D. Roosevelt commenced his presidency. (Z)