Democrat Adelita Grijalva was officially sworn in as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, over seven weeks after winning a special election in Arizona to fill the seat left vacant by her late father, Raúl Grijalva.
House Speaker Mike Johnson administered the oath shortly before the chamber returned to session to vote on federal government funding legislation.
Grijalva’s seating restored the narrow Republican majority in the House to 219-214.
Speaking on the House floor, she promised to carry forward her father’s progressive legacy, focusing on environmental justice, labor rights, tribal sovereignty, and public education.
“It is time for Congress to restore a full check and balance to this administration,” she said. “We can and must do better.
What is most concerning is not what this administration has done, but what the majority of this body has failed to do.”
Her induction also made her the crucial 218th signature on a discharge petition that could trigger a vote on releasing unclassified Justice Department documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Three Republicans, including Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, had already signed the petition.
Her support ensures the petition has the signatures required to move forward, though a vote is not expected immediately.
Grijalva’s swearing-in ended a delay that she and other Democrats attributed to Speaker Johnson’s refusal to seat her while the House was out of session, a move that prompted criticism, a lawsuit by Arizona’s attorney general, and speculation that the delay aimed to block her participation in the Epstein petition.
Prior to Congress, Grijalva served on the Tucson Unified School District board and the Pima County Board of Supervisors, where she became only the second woman to lead the board.
Representing a majority-Hispanic district in southern Arizona, she won the September special election decisively.
“I would rather have my dad than have an office,” she said, reflecting the personal significance of her victory.
Her first votes in the House are expected to include opposition to the Senate-passed government funding bill, largely over its failure to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Grijalva’s arrival marks a historic moment as Arizona’s first Latina congresswoman while reinforcing her father’s progressive agenda in Washington.
