MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Voters in southern Arizona have elected a new member of Congress, Democrat Adelita Grijalva. She easily won a special election to finish the term of her father, Congressman Raul Grijalva, who died in March. She will become Arizona's first Latina congressional representative. Her win also narrows the slim majority Republicans currently hold in the House. They can only lose two votes and still pass legislation. Ben Giles of member station KJZZ in Phoenix is here with more. Good morning, Ben.
BEN GILES, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So Adelita Grijalva is a Democrat who replaces a Democrat - her dad, like we said - in an overwhelmingly Democratic district. Despite that, is there anything we can learn from the results about the Democrats' chances in next year's midterms?
GILES: Well, there certainly weren't any surprises here last night in this deep-blue southern Arizona district, but this race can tell us something about the field of candidates, and particularly, I'm talking about Democratic candidates that voters will be choosing from in 2026. This race was really decided back in July, when there was a lot of hype surrounding Gen Z content creator Deja Foxx, a fresh face running amid calls for young, new Democratic leaders following the party's crushing defeats in 2024. But instead, southern Arizona Democrats overwhelmingly backed a more familiar face, someone connected to the Democratic establishment through her father, who served in Congress for over two decades. But it's not just that Adelita Grijalva is her father's daughter. Her roots in the district run deep, having served for 20 years on the school board in Tucson, Arizona, and then four years on the board of supervisors in the second-largest county in the state.
MARTIN: So what do we know about how she might be able to have an immediate impact, even though she's a freshman, and, you know, freshmen aren't generally known to have much of an impact? But how could she?
GILES: Right. Almost immediately, her presence in Washington, it could have a significant impact on a bipartisan effort to force the disclosure of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Last night in a victory speech after her win in Tucson, Grijalva reiterated that she'll support a maneuver known as a discharge petition that would sidestep House Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on the House floor on the release of Epstein records. Grijalva said that's because voters elected her to hold the Trump administration accountable.
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ADELITA GRIJALVA: That is why on my very first day in office, I will be the decisive 218th signature....
(CHEERING)
GRIJALVA: ...On the discharge petition to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files.
(CHEERING)
GILES: That reference to 218 being that she intends to be the final decisive signature required to move the discharge petition forward. But Grijalva may also have to reckon with a separate showdown between Democrats, Republicans and President Trump, who abruptly canceled a meeting with Dem leaders Tuesday as Congress barrels towards a possible government shutdown. Funding for the federal government is set to lapse at midnight on September 30 next week.
MARTIN: So given that, with the threat of this shutdown and the offing there, do we have a sense of the timing of the Epstein vote?
GILES: You know, in short, we just don't know. Grijalva could be sworn in as early as next week, but it all depends on when House Speaker Mike Johnson calls the House back to the Capitol, and he might not do that until early October. In fact, he canceled planned votes next week, a move Democrats are criticizing as a ploy to pressure the Senate to rubber-stamp a funding extension that House Republicans adopted late last week. But even once she signs the petition, it's unclear when it would be officially entered into the record, and that's what would trigger a 48-hour deadline for a full House vote on whether or not to release Epstein records.
MARTIN: That is Ben Giles with KJZZ in Phoenix. Ben, thank you.
GILES: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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