In a major development that’s set to shake up Capitol Hill, Democrat Adelita Grijalva will win the special election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, defeating Republican Daniel Butierez by a wide margin, according to CNN. Her victory doesn’t just fill the seat left vacant by her late father, Rep. Raul Grijalva—it delivers the final, critical vote needed to force a showdown in Congress over the long-suppressed Jeffrey Epstein case files.
This isn’t just another special election. With Grijalva’s win, the House hits the magic number: 218. That’s the threshold required to force a vote on a discharge petition that would bypass House leadership and compel the release of the Epstein files—something GOP leaders have aggressively tried to block.
The petition, co-led by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, had been stuck at 217 signatures for weeks. That changed earlier this month when Virginia Democrat James Walkinshaw, fresh off his own special election victory, signed on as the 217th. Grijalva’s win locks it in.
Grijalva made her stance clear before ballots were even counted. Speaking to the Arizona Daily Star, she didn’t waver: “We are hearing from voters that they believe the survivors deserve justice, and Congress must fulfill its duty to check the executive branch and hold Trump accountable.”
The Epstein files petition has been building pressure in Washington for months, reaching what some lawmakers are calling a “boiling point.” Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly dodged the issue. In July, he abruptly adjourned the House a day early to avoid any movement on the files ahead of the summer recess.
Massie sees the writing on the wall. Last week, he told reporters he believes the House could vote as early as mid-October, now that Arizona’s seat is filled.
Once Grijalva is officially sworn in, the rules require a seven-legislative-day waiting period before Massie can bring the bill to the floor. After that, House leadership has up to two more days to put it to a vote—if they don’t bury it in procedural delays. Still, the clock is ticking, and there’s little room left to run.
Discharge petitions are rarely successful. Most die quietly, victims of partisan gridlock or fear of crossing party leadership. But this one is different. The Epstein case has stirred outrage across party lines. While few Republicans have signed the petition, a notable list of Trump-aligned lawmakers—including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Nancy Mace—have broken ranks to support it.
Still, even if it passes the House, the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. And that’s assuming Speaker Johnson doesn’t use every tool at his disposal to keep it off the floor entirely.
Grijalva’s win also cuts deeper into Johnson’s already razor-thin majority. With the chamber currently split 219-213, he can only afford to lose two Republican votes on party-line decisions. Two more House seats remain vacant: one in Texas, following the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner, and one in Tennessee, after Rep. Mark Green stepped down. Special elections for those seats are months away.
Arizona’s 7th District, which runs along the border with Mexico and includes parts of Tucson and Phoenix, was never truly in play. But with this win, the political temperature in Washington just spiked.
The vote to expose the Epstein files is now barreling toward the House floor. And Adelita Grijalva’s signature is the one that got it there.
