GOP's slim majority in House shrinks as Dem wins special election in Arizona

Democrats gained a seat in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, tightening the Republican Party’s already slim majority. Adelita Grijalva, daughter of the late Congressman Raul Grijalva, won a special election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, defeating Republican nominee Daniel Butierez, a business owner and contractor.

The House had stood at 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats prior to the Arizona special election, with three seats being vacant after two Democrat lawmakers' deaths and one Republican's resignation. Grijalva will serve the remaining 15 months of her father’s term, who died in March after complications from cancer treatment, per Fox News.

In her victory statement, Adelita Grijalva said, “More than fifty years ago, my dad started a movement – unions, environmentalists, reproductive rights advocates, LGBTQIA organizers, and immigrant rights activists – united behind a common vision of justice, dignity, and equity for all. Fifty years later, that movement is alive and well in all of us.”

She added, “The voters of Southern Arizona sent the country a loud message tonight: we reject the MAGA agenda and we demand a Congress that will hold this administration accountable.”

Throughout her campaign, Grijalva targeted President Trump, writing on social media, "In Congress, I commit to fight Trump’s cruel agenda, like the Big Ugly Bill that took away coverage from nearly 383,000 Arizonans and 142,000 children.”

Grijalva’s victory was widely expected, as Democrats hold nearly a two-to-one voter registration advantage in the district, according to Fox News. The district is heavily Hispanic and stretches across southern Arizona from Yuma to Tucson.

The win reduces the GOP majority in the House to 219-214, with two vacant seats remaining. One is Texas’ 18th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic seat expected to be filled on November 4. The other is Tennessee’s 7th District, left vacant after Republican Rep. Mark Green resigned in July to return to the private sector. A special election for that seat is scheduled for December 2.