Former Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva wants to continue working on the progressive legacy of her late father, Representative Raul Grijalva, as his successor in Congress, representing the people of Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District.
A person with twenty years of public service in her own right as a school board member for Tucson Unified and a Board Supervisor for Pima County, Grijalva says that if elected to the House in a special election this September following a July primary, she would work to:
- Expanding access to public education.
- Increasing opportunities for economic success and affordable housing.
- Securing comprehensive immigration reform.
Ms. Grijalva graciously took the opportunity to interview with Blog for Arizona to discuss for candidacy for the Arizona CD Seven House Seat.
The questions and her responses are below.
Please tell the reader’s two reasons you would like to run for the Arizona House Congressional District Seat. Please explain.
“Growing up in a family like the one that I grew up in, which is deeply involved in community advocacy. But it’s not just my mom and dad. It was my grandfather on my mom’s side and my Nana on my dad’s side. I learned the importance of showing up and being involved that that idea of civic engagement very early on. My experiences on the TUSD school board and Pima County have reinforced my belief in the power of collaboration, collaborative leadership, and being a servant leader trying to affect any kind of positive change. I’ve dedicated over two decades of my life to public service, including 20 years on the Tucson Unified School District governing board and four years and three months as a District Five supervisor and two of those years, I was on both boards.”
“I’m running for Congress to bring our community’s voice to Washington and continue advocating for the issues that matter most to us and Southern Arizona has a legacy of sending progressive voices, the consciousness of our area to Washington. When they sent my dad, that’s what they did. And so I am hoping to continue on that legacy of representing Southern Arizona to the best of my ability.”
Are you running as your own person in this election or the daughter of Raul Grijalva?
“I’m the granddaughter of Brazero who came to this country as a hard-working Mexican immigrant. He came to this country with the desire to help because the U.S was asking them to come, and he had a determination and hope for a better life for him and his family and I am the proud daughter of a U.S Congressman, a man who spent his entire life fighting for justice, equity, and dignity for the most vulnerable in our communities from a hard-working Vaquero. She’s serving the people in the Halls of Congress That’s happened in one single generation. And that’s the promise of this country. And, for me, that is the example that I walk into this with. That is the America that I want to raise my three beautiful children in and that’s why I chose to run for public office in the first place. I’m proud of what my father has achieved, for Arizona, for this country, and this world. My dad gave me incredible shoes to fill, but I stand on my own two feet, and I have a record of serving my community here in Southern Arizona for the last two decades, as a public servant who knows how to make government work better to serve the people. I’ve spent my life fighting for brighter future that we all deserve. Two decades on the TUSD board where I served in public education for all children and four years and three months, protecting not only our beautiful Sonoran Desert, but the people of our community in working to Increase benefits wages, housing, and preschool options. I feel like I understand this community’s struggles, their hopes, their strengths and their dreams because I am part of this community. It is literally part of my DNA. I don’t think I can ever and will ever forget any of the lessons that my dad, my mom, my Papa, my Nana, my Theo’s, my sisters. They all are part of me and what they imparted is how do you stay humble because you if you think you’re better than people you don’t hear them. How do you listen and work with others. And it’s my immense privilege to represent this community, but I stand on my own two feet, and I have decades of experience of my own that inform my perspective and my drive to continue to do this work. But if elected to Congress, I am always a proud daughter of Congressman Raul Grijalva.
In your opinion, what are three issues that you will run on to earn the nomination and win in the general election in September?
“So, if elected to Congress, my focus will be expanding access to quality public education, economic opportunities and affordable housing, protecting our environment and water resources, and advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.”
“We worked very hard in Pima County to expand the options for housing for protecting our environment with through the expansion of the Sonoran Desert Conservation and to dedicate funds to those endeavors and to preschools. So, what I thought was really special is the work that I started in Tucson Unified and really, I think anyone running for any office should have to serve on a board like Tucson Unified because we wouldn’t have this fight about whether to support public education or not. Everyone would support public education because you understand that over 90 percent of the young people that are in the United States period, but specifically in district seven attend our public schools and what’s happening in public education at the federal level, the state level, and this slow and not always so slow starvation of public education, is having damning impacts for generations. That’s the biggest for me. I just think that historically, I haven’t always agreed with everyone on issues but If we can agree on public education, then I know there’s a foundation for us to work on. But if you know you are one of those people that believes that our public dollars should go to private education, then I don’t know how we move forward because that’s a biggie.”
“With regard to the housing crisis. we have a lot of work to do in that area. How do we continue to expand the opportunities we have in CD Seven and still acknowledge the fact that our environment is what’s going to help continue this entire region into an area continuing to have healthy and safe communities with safe water, air, and land. I believe that you can be an environmentalist and still support the growth that is necessary for our communities, but we have to protect it. And one of the things that I’m so proud of that my dad started in Pima County and the reason why Pima County looks very different than Maricopa is the Sonoran Desert Conservation. What we did is we took that document and continue to expand on it and dedicate funding to purchasing open space. And so, when my dad was on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, there was this Ranch called Kelly Ranch, and they really wanted to put to bulldoze everything there, which the vast majority of which is, like pristine desert lands; Wildlife corridors or Riparian Habitats. It’s beautiful, And they wanted to knock everything down and build 6,500 homes. And my dad was the third no vote stopping that project. But one of the last votes that I took at the last board meeting when I was on the Pima County Board of Supervisors is to purchase that land property for preservation In Pima County. And I’m, like, oh my gosh, these are these full circle moments that are just like you couldn’t write it better. And, for me, that’s the thing. I want to make sure that people look at what I’ve done because I do believe it’s a privilege to be in elected office and when I say something about what I believe in and how I have voted consistently in these areas when it comes to protecting workers. When it comes to our environment. When it comes to education. When it comes to, expanding options for our working families. I have the voting record that back that up.”
“Comprehensive immigration reform is something that my dad had been working on for 22 years. It has become an incredibly partisan issue where I don’t think it needs to be. There are people in CD Seven that are very conservative that own farms and that own businesses that need the labor and people from Mexico to come because these are jobs that American citizens do not take. And if you look at our hospice facilities. If you look at any kind of retirement community that requires a little bit more extra care. Our preschools. Look at the people who work there. Our most vulnerable are taken care of by immigrants and that come to this country for opportunity. Those two industries are the largest ones that hire immigrants.”
“Our communities are aging. These are facts. This is just the way it is. I do think that when you’re looking at the benefit that immigrants bring to our communities in small businesses, in revenue, and that they continue to pay into our systems and don’t get any benefit from them. Those are facts and so dispelling a lot of the rhetoric that’s out there and just talking to people on both sides of the aisle that across our country are going to benefit from actually putting a lot of the jargon at that’s hanging out there into some actual policy, ensuring that people can come to work because we have the need, but also be able to go back home when they want to be able to reunite with families. I mean, all of that is one humanitarian, but if you’re just not talking about, well, let’s not talk about the personalities and the people, talk about the economic benefit and the fact that our country continues to rely on immigrant labor. And we have to acknowledge that, and it’s just something that is good for entire country to have comprehensive information reform.”
Please tell us at least two things the people are saying when you and your surrogates meet them at their houses in CD Seven. What is the response to what they are telling you and your campaign?
“I’ve been able to speak to several people and I’ve attended several rallies and community events. Over the past few weeks, what we’re hearing from people is they are very frustrated and very angry with the damaging actions that are being taken by Trump and this current Administration and Elon Musk being able to look at a spreadsheet of what costs are and just like cross them off and say, we’re not going to do that anymore. Communities that have been promised programs and projects where they’re funding is now in limbo. And those are projects that were already authorized by Congress. They want someone to stand up for them and with them, and advocate, help, support and be a leader that’s going to show up and not somebody that’s just going to be like I got elected. Now, I’m not going just sit back and hang out. To me, it is one of the most disrespectful things that you can do to a community that is elected you to an office: to not show up and be there. When you say you’re going to do something, you should do it and don’t be worried about being re-elected because in this community that has elected a man, like my dad who was an unapologetic progressive, you have the responsibility to speak up and be the consciousness, and that’s what I heard very clearly from members of Congress. Be the consciousness for the entire nation on issues. That’s what they missed when my dad was sick. They knew that the votes weren’t going to change, but it was like, I just want to hear him get us riled up about what we have to do, and I would be honored to be able to do that. And I know firsthand that the federal resources and how it’s going to impact our communities at the local level, because this is what it looks like when those funds are not allocated. Tucson Unified School District has a potential loss of 37 million dollars because of this expansion of vouchers that have been supported by the federal system under three different Administrations. It means that you know that they’re going to cut Medicare and Medicaid. Those benefits to our young people SNAP is part of that. That means children that are not going to be able to eat because the vast majority of children in a district like Tucson Unified get their meals at school, right.”
“This race is very personal to me. It comes on the heels of losing my dad and I’m running because I believe in the values that he shared and know that our community wants to be a progressive voice in Congress, who’s going to fight for them.”
To what extent are the people bringing up affordability, like going food shopping, paying the mortgage, or the rent.
It is a constant. Like the reality is that there is the amount of money coming into a household for most, people hasn’t changed. It’s the expense of everything that continues to increase. And if I recall correctly, I think Trump made a statement, comment, promises about how things were going to be so much cheaper. Hasn’t happened. And that has nothing to do with anybody else. He has both the House and Senate and the White House. What he’s preoccupied with is making sure that his rich friends get more money while the rest of us pay for it. Affordability is huge. Many people that are federal workers that are afraid about losing their jobs. Our veterans, I mean, there’s so many examples of how these cuts are hurting. I was at a protest across from the VA and what they were saying is, like ‘You feel it now. They’re saying that those cuts were all administrative, but I can’t get an appointment anymore.’ Every federal employee is having to send in reports on ‘What did you.’ The services that are provided by the VA are promises made to our veterans who put their lives on the line for us. And now they’re trying to claw those benefits back. It’s just such a disservice to people who should be respected and revered for their service to our country. And so, I think that, for me. I know that families, our families, and the people that I talk to are just not okay with their rights being taken away. I mean, Trump sends out a memo on March 14th, basically saying that ICE can break down doors if they see someone with suspicious activities. That’s stomping over all of our personal rights. We have rights in this country regardless of status, but respectfully, it doesn’t even matter if we’re citizens. We’re getting shipped off because we can’t prove it or we’re being detained for days because you don’t believe a birth certificate. I mean, I cannot wrap my head around the fact that there are people in this country that think that that is acceptable and what we’re seeing In the approval rates American people, regardless of party, are not okay.”
Is there anything not covered in the first four questions that you would like the readers to know about you or your campaign for Arizona House Congressional District Seven? Please explain.
“I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done. We started a campaign on March 31st at seven o’clock in the morning, and by 11:30, our portal was closed, and we met the minimum requirement to be on the ballot. I feel very confident in the support that we have, but I also think it’s very telling of the kinds of endorsements that I’ve received from very early from Senator Kelly, from former Representative Gabby Giffords, from Ruben Gallego. Those are very important and former representatives like Congressman Ron Barber and Ann Kirkpatrick. Mayors Romero, Gallego, and South Tucson’s Roxana. The chairman and vice chairwoman of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Our local people that we were elected together, Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Laura Conover, and then my colleagues Rick Scott and Jen Allen and Andres Cano. The Giffords PAC. The Congressional Progressive Caucus. I went and did an interview with them, and they support me. And then we have Moms Fed Up because I’m the only mom running. Unions like UFCW, CWA, Council of Machinists. IBEW. I feel like the support that we have and continue to have is very telling on the diversity of the people that are coming around and supporting this campaign. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I have a proven track record, but also that people want to keep a progressive voice in Southern Arizona and continue with the legacy that my father started.
I’m proud to say that I will work hard to create opportunities to help our families achieve their American dream no matter who you are, where you come from, or where you live.”
Please click here to read more about Adelita Grijalva and her campaign for the Arizona House Congressional District Seven Seat.
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