What happened
Democrat Adelita Grijalva won Tuesday's special election to replace her late father in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, further narrowing Republicans’ thin House majority. Grijalva, a former Pima County supervisor, beat Republican businessman Daniel Butierez in the heavily Democratic district. Rep. Raúl Grijalva died from cancer in March.
Who said what
Once Grijalva is sworn in, Democrats will have 214 seats to the GOP’s 219. Democrats will be “glad to have another vote in the House,” The Washington Post said, but she might also be “greeted warmly by an unlikely figure,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Grijalva has said she will provide the decisive 218th signature on Massie’s bipartisan petition to force a House vote to require the Justice Department’s release of all unclassified files on Jeffrey Epstein.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D), who won a special election in Virginia earlier this month, was the 217th signatory. And the three other Republicans who have kept their names on the discharge petition — Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) — are “solid. They're not moving,” Massie told Axios. The looming vote is a “tough reminder” for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about the “limits of his power,” Axios said, and a “rare case in which GOP lawmakers openly defy” President Donald Trump’s “sustained pressure.”
What next?
Grijalva will be sworn in once the House returns from recess, likely in early October. Special elections to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) and retired Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) are scheduled for Nov. 4 and Dec. 2, respectively.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
7 mountain hotels perfect for a tranquil autumn or winter escapeThe Week Recommends Get (altitude) high and unwind
-
‘Deskilling’: a dangerous side effect of AI useThe explainer Workers are increasingly reliant on the new technology
-
The biggest sports betting scandals in historyIn Depth The recent indictments of professional athletes were the latest in a long line of scandals
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
Is Mike Johnson rendering the House ‘irrelevant’?Talking Points Speaker has put the House on indefinite hiatus
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
