The heat sweltered outside on a late August afternoon as Adelita Grijalva stood in the crowded dining room of Paloma Mexican Street Food restaurant in Avondale, Arizona, about 20 miles west of Phoenix. Grijalva had already won the Democratic primary and was headed to a special election for a U.S. House seat in Arizona. Though she had never held federal elected office—earlier this year, she’d resigned from the Pima County Board of Supervisors to run for Congress—voters knew her name. For 22 years, the seat she was running for had been held by her father, Raúl Grijalva, a towering figure in Arizona politics and a leading progressive voice in the national Democratic Party until his death in March. But Grijalva wasn’t coasting on name recognition. She was baking in the hot Arizona summer sun to make certain she would follow in her father’s footsteps, make history as her state’s first Latina member of Congress, and give her party an extra vote that could be pivotal this fall—and beyond.

Indeed, Grijalva crushed her Republican opponent by 39 points just a few weeks later on September 23. That night, she called her win, which surpassed her father’s last margin of victory in a reelection bid against the same opponent a year ago, “a loud message” that voters “reject the MAGA agenda, and we demand a Congress that will hold this administration accountable.” In the short term, her most important contribution will be numerical: Her election narrows the Republicans’ already slim majority in the House. On election night, she announced that she would follow through on her promise to force a vote on the release of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case files, which had previously been short one signature.

Her win also provides early lessons for Democrats as they prepare for the 2026 midterms and work to win over Latino voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024. Grijalva aggressively courted Latino voters, who turned out for her in droves, and all the while she stuck to her progressive roots. Grijalva’s last name played a role in her victory, but so did her politics. Her message, built around concerns over affordability and anger at Trump’s immigration policy, is one that can win over Latinos—and others—outside of Arizona as well. Moved by her calls for lower housing prices and protecting Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and immigrants’ rights, voters brushed aside attacks—from Republicans and Democrats as well, especially during the primary campaign earlier this year—that alleged she was a legacy candidate. Indeed, they not only were unbothered by her connection to her father, but seemed to appreciate her commitment to issues he championed, such as schools, the environment, and Indigenous rights. In a battleground state that typically has favored centrist, middle-of-the-road Democrats, Grijalva’s huge win gives the national party something to consider as it regroups, tries to win back voters, and attempts to confront Trump’s increasingly unconstrained and polarizing second term.

“We did the work,” Grijalva told me in August at her campaign headquarters, just east of downtown Tucson. The message from her race, she said, is to know and listen to your constituents. “Not all of us are going to fit this perfect mold that you think would be a great candidate, but you have to look at what this community believes in,” she said. “I was told early on, ‘I don’t know that you should lean into your dad’s legacy.’ I’m like, ‘It is mine, too.’ I am part of his legacy, and I also have my own chops.”

Grijalva, 54, has long, dark hair and an open face with an easy smile. Her........

© New Republic