CNN
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The next test of who Democratic voters want to see leading the party will take place Tuesday in southwest Arizona, where three leading candidates are offering competing visions in the primary to fill the late Rep. Raul Grijalva’s seat.
The candidates have all painted themselves as fighters focused on protecting programs that would see cuts under Republicans’ sweeping domestic policy and immigration law. But the primary has also highlighted questions about age, generational change and the power of a famous last name.
Adelita Grijalva, a former Pima County supervisor and the late congressman’s daughter, is pitching herself as an experienced continuation of his progressive legacy. Former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez is running as a pragmatist who’s managed to pass legislation under Republican majorities. And 25-year-old activist Deja Foxx argues her lived experience and youth make her the best suited to bring new urgency to Washington.
Hernandez has led fundraising, but Grijalva and Foxx have remained competitive. Two other Democratic primary candidates, businessman Patrick Harris Sr. and Indigenous scholar Jose Malvido Jr., have not submitted Federal Election Commission reports.
Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Tucson and most of the state’s southern border with Mexico, has been without representation since March, when Rep. Grijalva died due to complications from cancer treatments. The late congressman and former Congressional Progressive Caucus chairman was first elected to the House in 2002.
Polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday local time (10 p.m. ET).
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will be heavily favored to win the September 23 general election. Here’s a closer look at the leading Democratic candidates:
The 54-year-old Grijalva entered the race as the front-runner and has garnered the lion’s share of endorsements in the contest, including support from both of Arizona’s US senators as well as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She’s also benefited from her family’s longstanding recognition in the district, saying she would continue her father’s legacy.
Like her father, Grijalva served on the Tucson Unified School District governing board and the Pima County Board of Supervisors before running for Congress.
She has pushed back on her opponents’ efforts to frame her as the establishment candidate, saying that she applied for and earned her endorsements from various groups and has her own record of advocacy work, including running diversion programs while working at Pima County’s Teen Court.
Foxx acknowledges this is her first political run. She has built her campaign around her backstory as a Tucson native who worked at a gas station as a teenager and was raised by a single mother who relied on Medicaid, food stamps and Section 8 housing. She points to those experiences to argue she has lived the policies lawmakers debate in Washington.
The 25-year-old has also highlighted her decade of experience as an activist. She is best known for confronting former Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, at a town hall over Planned Parenthood funding. Foxx has also worked as a reproductive rights activist and an influencer backing Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2019 presidential campaign.
Daniel Hernandez: The moderate alternative
Hernandez has framed himself as a more centrist alternative to Foxx and Grijalva. While his more progressive opponents have backed “Medicare for All,” he has said he would defend Medicare and Medicaid. He has also supported mining projects in the district that other candidates have opposed.
He’s argued that while some Democrats use being in the political minority as an excuse to not get legislation passed, he was able to get policies enacted during his six years in the state House under a Republican Legislature and governor.
Hernandez previously ran in the 6th Congressional District in 2022 but lost the Democratic primary to Kirsten Engel. The 35-year-old has also done Latino outreach for Planned Parenthood, served as the Arizona state director for Everytown for Gun Safety and served on the Sunnyside Unified School District governing board.
In 2011, Hernandez was working as an intern for then-Rep. Gabby Giffords when she was shot at a constituent meeting in Tucson. He provided first aid to the congresswoman before emergency services arrived.
