Adelita S. Grijalva (born October 30, 1970) is an American politician who served as a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors from District 5 from 2021 to 2025 and on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board for 20 years. The daughter of former U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva, she is a candidate for the 2025 special election to fill the seat he represented.
Early life and education.
Grijalva is a native Tucsonan, the granddaughter of a bracero who came to the United States from Mexico in 1945 and the daughter of former U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva. She graduated from Pueblo High School in 1989 and the University of Arizona with a degree in political science in 1995.<ref name="Demers 7/23/2020"></ref><ref name="Jim Nintzel 4/1/25"></ref>
Tucson Unified School District Governing Board.
Grijalva was the youngest woman ever elected to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board in 2002, serving for 20 years, making her one of the longest-serving TUSD Board members in history.
 In 2008 she received Advocate of the Year from the Arizona School Counselors Association for her tireless advocacy to keep counselors in schools. She voted against firing the co-founder and director of Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies program, and was the only board member who voted against shutting down its Mexican American Studies classes in 2012.
Pima County Board of Supervisors.
She was elected to the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 2020 with 73.60% of the vote. In office, she focussed on recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; centering safety, affordable housing and strong job creation as key to recovery efforts. She served as Chair and Vice-Chair during her time on the board, making a strong commitment to working with community to create a coalition to address the biggest issues facing Pima County, particularly housing people can afford, education, climate, and water resiliency, and healthy and safe communities.
Grijalva successfully pushed for the board to open meetings with a land acknowledgement to the indigenous Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe. She was appointed chair of the board in 2023, previously serving as vice chair for the two years prior, making her the first Latina to hold the position.
Due to Arizona's resign-to-run law, she announced her resignation from the Board effective April 4, 2025, to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Andrés Cano was appointed by the board to succeed her.
2025 congressional election.
On March 31, 2025, Grijalva announced that she was launching a campaign for the seat vacated by the death of her father, longtime U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva, to pursue the Democratic nomination for Arizona's 7th congressional district in a 2025 special election. Grijalva met her signature goal in the first five hours of her congressional campaign, making her the first candidate to appear on the ballot. Grijalva said Congress should be reining in President Donald Trump as he cuts the federal government workforce, claws back grant dollars and guts agencies like the U.S. Department of Education. She criticizes plans for a new copper mine at Oak Flat, a project that refused to consider concerns by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and others that the land was necessary for their ceremonies. She has received endorsements from leaders including Bernie Sanders, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and a number of Tucson City Council members, Pima County Supervisors, and state lawmakers.
Personal life.
Grijalva lives in Tucson with her husband Sol Gómez, a librarian, and their three children.