Watchdog news from the Tucson Sentinel 
Adelita Grijalva was well ahead Tuesday in the five-way Democratic primary in the special election to replace her late father in the U.S. House of Representatives. Daniel Butierez was leading in the GOP primary. Each had more than 60 percent of the vote from their parties. "What's happening right here, right now, is Raúl's dream," said his widow, Ramona Grijalva, speaking to a crowd of supporters about her daughter's enormous lead in the early results. Although Pima County officials had planned to release a second round of ballot results at 10 p.m., a monsoon storm caused a power outage at the counting center on Tucson's South Side, leading to a delay of more than an hour. The second batch of results was tallied and released before midnight. Democratic primary Grijalva had captured 62 percent of the vote in an election made necessary following the March death of U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died at age 77 after a battle with lung cancer just two months into his 12th term. Cheers erupted as the first results were posted at El Casino Ballroom, the South Side social club where Grijalva was having her victory party – and the same venue where the Grijalva family held a celebration of Raúl Grijalva's life following his March funeral. 
Later, as the Democratic candidate and some of her supporters spoke from the stage, "Si se puede!" echoed in the hall, packed with about 400 people. Adelita Grijalva took to the platform in the crowded club as "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar boomed from the speakers. "I stand on the shoulders of giants and I am so glad that my dad taught us all that is how you do this job," she said. "This is how you get things done." "This campaign is about the importance of giving voice to this community," she said. "It was not about an individual. It was not about social media likes. It was about knocking on doors face-to-face with community members." After the candidate spoke, longtime Grijalva supporter Raul Aguirre led a chant of "Raul Grijalva presente!" from the stage. Coming in second was Deja Foxx, a 25-year-old social media sensation making her first run for office with an emphasis on the need for younger people to serve in Congress. Foxx had 21 percent. Foxx held an election night event at Zerai's International Bar on East Broadway, where about 70 supporters gathered. 
After the initial results were released, she didn't concede the race, first attempting to speak to her backers via a video call, while sitting in another portion of the cafe just a few dozen feet away. The sound on that video speech wasn't clear, and she later stepped into the room with her supporters to say a few words. "Not every candidate, not every campaign gets to say the world is better because they ran. We do," she said. "Being a change maker isn't a job title. It's a through line. It's what you do when you volunteer. When you do the right thing and you're a good neighbor. When some of you in this room step up and run your own campaign one day," Foxx said. Foxx declined to take any questions from a Sentinel reporter. In third place was former state lawmaker Daniel Hernandez, who had sought to win over more moderate Democrats by arguing that party leaders were losing voters because they lectured voters instead of listening to them. Hernandez, who previously lost a congressional primary in CD 6, had 15 percent. Rounding out the field were José Malvido, an ethnic studies scholar who had worked in the nonprofit world, with 1 percent of the vote and retired businessman Patrick Harris, who had 2 percent. Hernandez, who led in fundraising early in the campaign but did not organize an election night gathering, conceded the race within minutes of the first results being posted. "I want to congratulate Adelita Grijalva on her victory tonight and encourage everyone who supported me to unite behind them in September. We must come together to protect Arizona from the extremism of the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress," Hernandez said. Republican primary In the GOP primary, Daniel Butierez had captured 60 percent of the vote, leading Jorge Rivas (25 percent) and Jimmy Rodriguez (14 percent). 
Butierez, who owns a painting company, won 27 percent of the vote when he made his political debut against Raúl Grijalva in the 2024 race for the CD 7 seat. Butierez joined a bipartisan gathering of dark-horse candidates that included fellow Republican Rodriguez as well as Democrat Harris and Green Party write-in candidate Gary Swing at South Side restaurant Delicias. "To be honest, it should be the hometown boy against the hometown girl," Butierez said. "We've got to get out there. We need to hit the doors, and we need to take this state back." "I've been out there talking to people and they do not want another 22 years of Grijalva. She's got the name recognition, and we need to overcome that," he said, saying the Democrat "isn't very good at running her daddy's Grijalva's machine" and accusing her of "ballot harvesting." READ ALL ABOUT IT from Sentinel reporters Jim Nintzel, Mia Kortright, Adrian O'Farrill & Paul Ingram »
A monsoon storm knocked out power at Pima County's election headquarters on Tucson's South Side on Tuesday night, stopping the vote count in the Congressional District 7 special election for about an hour. READ THE DETAILS »
A Starbucks store on West Ina Road near North Oracle Road will become the company's third unionized site in Tucson, after workers voted 16-0 in favor of union representation in an election Monday. READ THE DETAILS »
From the newsroom 
Tucson Sentinel journalists Natalie Robbins, Paul Ingram and Cris Seda Chabrier were recognized with national reporting awards from AAN Publishers, with Robbins taking first place for solutions journalism. Robbins took first place in the solutions journalism category, for her work reporting on the Tucson Community Bail Fund. Seda Chabrier won second place in the long-form arts feature category for a story on Tucson Vogue. Ingram won third place in the national reporting awards for his work covering the border and immigration issues in Southern Arizona. READ ALL ABOUT IT »
MegaMania, co-hosted by Pima County Public Library and Pima Community College, returns to the school's Downtown campus on Saturday afternoon. READ THE DETAILS »
Your Watchdog Update from the Tucson Sentinel 
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More authentically local news from the Tucson Sentinel
The Tomato Suspension Agreement that regulated Mexican tomato imports into the U.S. since 1996 came to an end Monday and was replaced by a 17% duty the Trump administration says is due to price dumping, or selling products far below U.S. market prices. READ THE DETAILS »
In case you missed it 
A pair of data centers proposed for Tucson would use more water than four golf courses when fully built out, and be energized with more power than any other TEP customer, according to new city documents. Councilmember Cunningham blasted the "cloak-and-dagger" secrecy of the project. READ THE DETAILS »
Two volunteers with a Tucsonhumanitarian group filed claims against the federal government, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and false arrest and imprisonment stemming from a March incident near Sasabe, Ariz. READ THE DETAILS »
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said Wednesday federal officials "gutted" a homicide case against a Mexican man accused of shooting and killing 69-year-old Ricky E. Miller Sr. during an attempted carjacking in June. READ THE DETAILS »
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