As the Trump administration continues to focus on increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement, two congressional candidates are set for a rematch to represent a district that stretches across Southern Arizona’s U.S.-México border
Democratic incumbent Adelita Grijalva and Republican Daniel Butierez first faced off in the 7th Congressional District special election last year after Grijalva’s father, Raúl Grijalva, — a decades-long advocate for Southern Arizona and immigrant rights — died from cancer treatment complications in March 2025.
Voting FAQ
What you need to know to participate in this election.
Key dates
Oct. 23 – Last day to request a mail-in ballot
Oct. 27 – Recommended deadline to mail back your ballot
Nov. 3 – Election Day
Register to vote or check your registration details:
Pima County Recorder’s Office
Adelita Grijalva, a longtime Pima County elected representative, won that election with about 69% of the vote, compared with about 29% for Butierez, according to the Arizona Secretary of State website. She completed the remainder of her father’s term and made history, becoming the first Arizona Latina elected to Congress. She’s since become an outspoken critic of Trump and his administration’s policies.
Butierez has stressed his own life strides. He faced “…Pima County’s corrupt justice system, spent 10 years in prison and 30 years fighting for justice,” according to his Arizona Secretary of State candidate statement. Butierez changed his life from “a homeless drug addict” to helping others as a small business employer, he added.
In the Nov. 3 General Election, voters will decide who represents District 7 for a full two-year term beginning in 2027.
Grijalva and Butierez shared the stage at an Aug. 26 debate sponsored by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and the Arizona Media Association, giving voters a chance to compare their positions on issues affecting Southern Arizona — a region that is majority Latino and serves parts of Tucson and communities in Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, Pinal, Maricopa and Yuma counties. Watch the replay here.
Immigration was among issues the candidates vastly disagreed on during the debate. Grijalva called for abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, arguing it was fundamentally corrupt and could not be reformed. Butierez pushed back. He defended ICE as a necessary law enforcement agency and argued that Congress should focus on rewriting immigration laws rather than dismantling the organization.
Unlike neighboring Congressional District 6, District 7 is not expected to be a major battleground in the national fight for control of the U.S. House. The Cook Political Report rates the seat solid Democrat, meaning Grijalva is heavily favored to win.
Still, the race determines who will represent a large swath of Southern Arizona in Congress, including borderlands communities where federal decisions about immigration and border enforcement have a direct impact.
Grijalva previously served on the Pima County Board of Supervisors and spent two decades on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board. Before joining Congress, she worked for more than 25 years at Pima County Teen Court.
Butierez is a native Tucsonan, small-business owner and painting contractor, employing “20-63 people,” according to his Arizona Secretary of State candidate statement and Ballotpedia responses. This is his third consecutive campaign for the District 7 seat.
The candidates
Where they stand
To help Pima County voters better understand the candidates, Arizona Luminaria asked each of them three key questions. Grijalva and Butierez submitted their answers via email and were asked to keep them 250 words or less. Their responses were edited for clarity only.
ICE activity
Federal immigration enforcement has become increasingly visible in Southern Arizona, including arrests such as that of Karla Toledo. What do you think of ICE’s recent activity and what reforms or policies would you support regarding immigration enforcement actions?
Daniel Butierez: “I support ICE and the enforcement of our immigration laws, especially when it comes to violent criminals, drug traffickers, human smugglers, and individuals who have been ordered removed. At the same time, enforcement must respect due process. Karla Toledo’s removal proceedings were ultimately dismissed, which shows why individual cases need to be reviewed carefully and fairly. (Editor’s note: Two weeks after Butierez submitted his response, a federal judge declined to drop Toledo’s deportation.)
I also support the bipartisan Dignity Act of 2025, H.R. 4393, which was introduced by Republicans and Democrats to combine stronger border security with broader immigration reform.
Our representatives in Washington should be focused on fixing a broken immigration system through legislation, more judges, faster case processing, secure borders, and a workable legal pathway for people who qualify, rather than spending their time protesting in the streets of Tucson for photo opportunities.
We can enforce our laws, protect due process, and finally fix the system Congress has failed to repair for decades.”
Adelita Grijalva: “Since I was elected, I have stood up for immigrant communities against this Administration’s campaign of terror against undocumented immigrants, DACA recipients, and others who have gotten swept up in Trump’s cruel and inhumane deportation machine. ICE is an institution that is fundamentally broken and cannot simply be reformed.
It’s also important to remember that it is a relatively new agency, created in the aftermath of 9/11. I believe it is institutionally compromised, which is why it must be abolished. Then, we must comprehensively reexamine how immigration enforcement is carried out in the United States in a way that upholds the rule of law, protects civil liberties, and respects basic human dignity.
We must shift away from militarized enforcement only and invest instead in addressing root causes of immigration, adding more immigration judges, reducing backlogs and modernizing our ports of entry.”
Cost of Living and Affordability
Southern Arizona families are facing pressure from housing, food, health care, energy and transportation costs. What should Congress do to make everyday life more affordable for residents of Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, and which policies would you prioritize to lower household costs?
Grijalva: “As a mother of three kids, I am all too familiar with rising costs at the grocery store and for housing and childcare, which are more expensive than ever under Trump’s economy.
My top priorities will be to undo the damage inflicted by Trump’s tariffs and the Big Ugly Bill, including restoring cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and Medicare. In Arizona alone, more than 400,000 people have lost food assistance, including 200,000 children. We must also end the illegal war in Iran which is skyrocketing gas and raw material prices.
Beyond undoing the harm, Democrats need to be proactive in pursuing an aggressive agenda that uplifts and empowers working people. This includes ensuring that every person in the United States has quality, affordable health care coverage by passing Medicare for All.
I support legislation to expand utility, internet, and health premium assistance programs to lower costs for families. I also support increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, as well as passing universal pre-k and affordable childcare legislation.
I am working to bring down housing costs by investing more federal dollars in affordable housing and home repairs to increase affordable housing supply. I support expanding down payment assistance and guaranteed housing for people experiencing homelessness, including veterans.”
Butierez: “Congress should focus on helping families keep more of what they earn and lowering the cost of housing, energy, health care, and transportation.
I support permanent tax relief for working families, expanding American energy production, reducing unnecessary regulations that drive up housing costs, increasing health care competition and price transparency, and controlling federal spending.
Southern Arizona families need more opportunity, lower costs, and a government that lives within its means.”
Economic Development and Environmental Protections
Southern Arizona leaders are looking for ways to attract jobs and investment, while proposed data centers have raised concerns about their electricity and water demands particularly amid Colorado River water cuts. How should Southern Arizona balance economic development with protecting its water and energy resources, and what is your position on further data center development in the region?
Butierez: “Southern Arizona should welcome new investment and good-paying jobs, but growth must be responsible.
I support additional data center development only when companies can demonstrate adequate water and power supplies and pay the infrastructure costs they create instead of passing those costs onto families and small businesses.
Arizona regulators are already examining how large-load customers such as data centers should bear more of those costs.
With the Colorado River under increasing pressure, we also need to expand our water supply through conservation, reuse, recharge, and private investment in projects such as desalination.
We can grow Southern Arizona’s technology economy without sacrificing our water security or raising utility bills for working families.”
Grijalva: “Economic development is critical to Southern Arizona’s future, and we need to continue attracting good-paying jobs and investment to our region.
We must focus on bringing economic development to Southern Arizona that makes sense for our communities. That means ensuring development does not come at the expense of public health or the cost of living.
Big data center projects threaten both. They can increase temperatures in surrounding neighborhoods, consume tremendous amounts of water and threaten our long-term water security, while also raising utility bills for families.
At the federal level, my focus will be on bringing federal dollars to Southern Arizona that make our communities attractive places for businesses to invest. I support restoring the billions of funds for green energy projects that have been cut.
Additionally, I have successfully secured $15 million in preliminary district funding for a wide range of projects, including public safety, infrastructure, and housing.
Attracting businesses also requires a strong workforce. I sit on the Education and Workforce Committee, where I have advocated for investments in K-12 and higher education to ensure we have a skilled workforce that can meet the ever-changing demands of employers.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
