Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Adelita Grijalva have officially filed a lawsuit against the U.S. House of Representatives seeking to ensure Representative-elect Grijalva's swearing in as a member of Congress following her election win last month.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district in the process,” said Attorney General Mayes. “By blocking Adelita Grijalva from taking her rightful oath of office, he is subjecting Arizona’s seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own democracy.”
More than a week after Arizona’s secretary of state certified Grijalva’s win in the special election to fill the Congressional District 7 seat held by her late father, she remains in limbo.
Hear from Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva in a previous one-on-one sit-down interview below.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to swear Grijalva in until Democrats vote to reopen the government.
“Speaker Johnson’s obstruction has gone far beyond petty partisan politics – it’s an unlawful breach of our Constitution and the democratic process. The voters of Southern Arizona made their choice, yet for four weeks, he has refused to seat a duly elected Member of Congress – denying Southern Arizona its constitutional representation,” said Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva. “I’m proud to join Attorney General Mayes in standing up for the more than 800,000 Arizonans who have been stripped of their voice in Congress. Speaker Johnson cannot continue to disenfranchise an entire district and suppress their representation to shield this administration from accountability and block justice for the Epstein survivors.”
Read the full lawsuit below
U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, both Democrats, told Scripps News Phoenix on Friday they support Mayes’ decision to take legal action.
“This is actually not about Adelita Grijalva, per se,” Stanton said. “It's about the people of her district. American people – our fellow Arizonans – do not have representation in Congress. It's about our democracy.”
While the House has not been in session for about a month, Stanton noted that members do more than work on legislation.
Constituent services are “the most important thing” his team does, he said.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Phoenix.
