A certified race and 23 days later, Adelita Grijalva remains unseated in Congress

Arizona Democrats joined party members on Capitol Hill this week, demanding that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) over three weeks after Arizona voters chose her to fill the vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since her father, Rep. Raul Grijalva, passed in March, over 800,000 southern Arizonans, including several tribal nations, have been left without representation at the federal level. Because Adelita Grijalva won a special election, precedent follows that she can be sworn in immediately and begin fulfilling her duties as a congressmember. Earlier this year, Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, Republicans from Florida, were sworn in outside the regular House session, a day after they won their special elections.

Her race was certified on Tuesday. That same day, she led a march at the Capitol Complex with the intention of hand-delivering the certification to Johnson, who wasn’t in his office that day. 

Video shared on Grijalva’s Instagram account shows congressional members and Arizona legislators chanting “Swear her in!" walking alongside her and holding up signs that read “Every American deserves representation. Swear in Adelita Grijalva now.”

“I was overwhelmingly voted into office. Today, my race was certified and signed by Arizona’s governor, attorney general and the secretary of state,” Grijalva said outside of Johnson’s office on Capitol Hill, video shows. “I need Speaker Johnson to do his job so I can do my job for the constituents of southern Arizona.”

Despite having obtained formal certification of her election win, Johnson has held her position hostage in hopes of forcing Democrats to give in to a Republican-backed funding bill that would reopen the government.

On Wednesday, the Senate failed to pass a House-approved measure that would fund the government through Nov. 21. A 10th vote was scheduled for Thursday.

Grijalva and other party members have suggested that the delay is also opportune for Republicans, as it would prohibit her from signing a petition to force a vote on a bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Her signature — which she has already promised to add to the petition — would be the last needed to make the vote possible. Johnson has categorized the claim as “absurd.”

Tuesday’s action followed a press conference held by Democratic Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego from Arizona, during which they demanded that Grijalva be sworn in and that Republicans return to work. The event quickly descended into a confrontation between the two and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Johnson.

A week later, nothing has been resolved for the soon-to-be congressmember. In Arizona, however, leaders are gearing up for a fight.

On Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a demand letter to Johnson, threatening “prompt legal action” should the ceremony be delayed further.

Mayes went on to accuse the House and its leadership of acting in violation of the Constitution and rebuked “ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd stories” offered up by Johson and his office as to why Grijalva has yet to be sworn in.

“In a particularly worrisome comment, an aide connected the swearing-in and admission to the ongoing budget fight, suggesting that the House is trying to use Arizona’s constitutional right to representation in the House as a bargaining chip,” the letter states.

Mayes demanded a response from Johnson and his office by Thursday, specifying a date and location for the ceremony. “Should you fail to provide such assurance, we will be forced to seek judicial relief to protect Arizona and the residents of its Seventh Congressional District,” the letter states.

Last week, Grijalva circulated a petition launched by local advocacy group Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), demanding that Johnson proceed with her swearing-in ceremony.

“Arizona voters in Congressional District 7 chose Adelita Grijalva to represent them in Washington. But Speaker Mike Johnson is refusing to swear her in, leaving Southern Arizona without a voice in Congress at the exact moment families are struggling through a Republican-led government shutdown,” the petition reads.

Johnson, on the other hand, has given interviews and released statements every day since the government shutdown, claiming that Democrats are holding the government hostage and “playing shameful political games.” He’s repeatedly stated that he will proceed with Grijalva’s ceremony once the government reopens.