Meet Adelita Grijalva after historic election win

What you probably already know: Adelita Grijalva has become the first Latina from Arizona to serve in Congress. Grijalva has overwhelmingly won a U.S. House of Representatives seat previously held by her late father, Democratic Rep. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died earlier this year. Grijalva, a wife and mother of three, won about 70% of the vote in Arizona’s 7^th District special election to fill the unexpired term, which is up again next year. Her father was a progressive Democrat who served almost two decades in Congress. Democrats far outnumber Republicans in the mostly Hispanic district, which includes almost the entire length of the Mexico-Arizona border.

Why it matters: Grijalva ran on a “progressive voice for Southern Arizona” platform, vowing to “fight Trump’s economic chaos,” promote affordable housing and defend Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Veteran’s Administration. She has also pledged to protect communities from attacks against sanctuary cities and other “unlawful executive actions.” Grijalva previously served on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, The Tucson United School District Board and worked at Pima County Teen Court for 25 years, with a focus on juvenile diversion programs. “This victory belongs to the people,” she said. “There’s an opportunity for us to try and convince people that who they need to represent is the people that elected them, not billionaires and corporations.”

What it means: Pew Research Center estimates that 25% of Arizona voters are Hispanic and Grijalva’s election means there are now 19 Latinas in Congress. The decisive win — the Arizona Secretary of State’s office notes that the election generated a large turnout — has sparked hope among Democrats and other progressive groups across the country, with organizations such as Democracy Now, Working Families Party and the Democratic National Committee noting that the win narrows an already-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House. CHC BOLD PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called Grijalva’s election “historic,” adding that her platform will “make a lasting impact on Arizona families.”

What happens now? ABC News and other media outlets report that Grijalva’s win, on the heels of Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw’s victory in a special election in Virginia earlier this month, “will likely deliver the decisive signature” to force a vote requiring the Department of Justice to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein in their entirety. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) notes that Democrats now have the 218^th vote and a bipartisan majority on the issue, adding that party candidates have now won or overperformed in 45 of 46 key elections this year. “As the first Latina to represent Arizona in Congress,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said, “Grijalva is a trailblazer who will work on behalf of her constituents, not bend the knee to billionaires.”