‘I Can Get Loud’: Adelita Grijalva Emerges as a Champion for Sexual-Assault Survivors

Most freshman lawmakers begin quietly. Adelita Grijalva’s first weeks on Capitol Hill were anything but.

A delayed swearing-in that drew national attention

After winning a special election for a safely Democratic Arizona seat, Grijalva waited 50 days to be sworn in when House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to seat her while the chamber remained out of session. Democrats argued the delay prevented her from becoming the 218th vote needed to force a floor vote on legislation to release Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein; the speaker denied that was his motive.

The standoff kept Grijalva and the Epstein story in the headlines and helped build momentum for near-unanimous legislation requiring the Justice Department to release records tied to the late convicted sex offender.

From local advocate to outspoken ally for survivors

On Nov. 12 Grijalva was finally sworn in and took the seat long held by her father, Rep. Raul Grijalva. Colleagues now commonly call her simply “Adelita.” The most junior member of the 435-member House, she has quickly become a recognizable advocate for sexual-assault survivors.

“Adelita showed courage and persistence in fighting to be sworn in and making it clear she stood with the survivors,” Rep. Ro Khanna said. “She deserves a lot of credit for our success.”

Grijalva has been careful to downplay any claim of single-handedly changing the debate. She credits survivors who went public about being trafficked and abused by Epstein as minors for driving public attention and urgency.

“When we look at the situation that I was put in, it’s easy to advocate for the survivors and justice for them,” she said. “That was not even something I had to say, ‘Let me think, do I want to do this?’ That absolutely was something that, morally, everybody should do.”

A long record of community advocacy

Grijalva, 55 and a mother of three teenagers, brings more than 25 years of local experience to Congress. She ran a diversion program at the Pima County Teen Court, spent two decades on the Tucson Unified School District board and served four years on the Pima County Board of Supervisors. In those roles she worked with homeless and foster children, families in poverty and organizations such as the Emerge Center Against Domestic Abuse in Tucson.

“Advocacy for people that feel like they don’t have a voice has always been something that I’m very comfortable with,” she said. “When people don’t feel like they have support or the ability … to raise their own voices, then it’s part of our responsibility to do that. So, yeah, I can get loud.”

Key moments and the road ahead

On Oct. 14, Grijalva and a group of House Democrats marched arm-in-arm to the speaker’s suite carrying purple signs that read “Swear her in!” Video from the day shows the lawmakers pressing past a Capitol Police officer; they turned back after being denied entry. On Nov. 18 she joined other members, survivors and advocates beneath the Capitol dome to press for unanimous passage of the Epstein records bill. The House approved the measure 427–1 and the Senate cleared it by unanimous consent; Rep. Clay Higgins was the lone vote against it in either chamber.

Grijalva will continue to pursue the policy priorities that shaped her local career, including education and climate issues. She has been assigned to the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

Despite her family ties to Washington, she says she is still finding her footing on the Hill. The day after she was sworn in, she sat for an interview alongside survivors Liz Stein and Jess Michaels, who described watching the oath as a validating, even transformative moment.

Bottom line: Adelita Grijalva’s first weeks in Congress turned a procedural delay into a public platform for survivors and helped catalyze bipartisan action to release Epstein-related records. Expect her to press on for survivors while continuing work on education and environmental policy.