The Mamdani momentum withered in the deserts of southern Arizona on Tuesday night.
In a Democratic primary election that pitted continuity and experience against generational change, voters decided to stick with what they knew, nominating Adelita Grijalva, the oldest daughter of Representative Raúl Grijalva, to fill the House seat of her father, who had held it for more than 20 years until his death in March.
The Associated Press called the race for Ms. Grijalva, who was winning more than 60 percent of votes counted. Deja Foxx, a Gen Z activist who tried to recreate the youthful magic of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for New York City mayor, attracted millions of fans on social media. But with about 20 percent of votes, the 25-year-old was not able to translate viral support into victory at the polls.
Daniel Hernandez, a former state lawmaker who ran as a moderate, won 14 percent of the vote. He had made the pitch that Democrats needed to move away from social issues and focus on economic struggles in order to win back Hispanic men who moved dramatically toward President Trump in 2024.
Ms. Grijalva is all but guaranteed victory in the special election on Sept. 23, when she will face the Republican primary winner, Daniel Butierez, in a heavily Democratic district.
Ms. Grijalva’s win showed the limits of anti-establishment energy in a heavily Latino district where many voters are still fond of Mr. Grijalva and his staunchly liberal support for immigrants and the environment.
Young progressives and frustrated Democrats wanted a change of face, if not necessarily of policies. They had hoped the anti-establishment fervor that helped Mr. Mamdani defeat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other better-known rivals in New York’s mayoral primary would also defeat the Grijalva name in Arizona’s heavily Democratic Seventh Congressional District.
They criticized Ms. Grijalva as a “legacy last name,” and argued that her campaign to replace her father reflected a sclerotic Democratic Party’s reliance on uninspiring, familiar candidates over fresh voices.
Ms. Grijalva unabashedly embraced her father’s legacy, saying she was proud to be his daughter and would carry on his liberal policies. During the campaign, she talked about how her time as a school-board member and Pima County supervisor had mirrored Mr. Grijalva’s own political career, and how he had discussed the possibility that she would one day run for his seat.
Despite the country’s distaste for establishment Democrats, Ms. Grijalva benefited from her family’s deep ties with southern Arizona. She was endorsed by Arizona’s two Democratic senators as well as prominent progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, who was Ms. Foxx’s model, if not her ally.
A host of unions, immigrant-rights groups and other progressive groups offered her support and help knocking on doors and goading voters to participate in a low-turnout summertime special election.
Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent for The Times who focuses on the politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school.
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