In Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, progressive influencer Deja Foxx lost by more than 40 points in a blowout that shocked far-left activists.
The Associated Press said that 54-year-old Adelita Grijalva had won the race with only 65% of the votes counted.
According to Trending Politics, Grijalva, who is a Pima County Supervisor and the daughter of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva, won with 62% of the vote. Foxx, a 25-year-old internet star with almost 400,000 TikTok followers, got only 21%.
Progressives who wanted to replace a political dynasty with a social media star had to face the facts. David Hogg and the PAC “Leaders We Deserve” both publicly supported Foxx.
She could only run for Congress in April. Her campaign relied heavily on her “lived experience,” which included growing up in Section 8 housing, relying on food stamps, and being an early activist for abortion access.
But it didn’t work. From the start, Grijalva was the clear favorite, with support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego. Her name, money, and support from her party helped her win easily. Foxx tried to make the loss seem like a moral victory.
She said, “I couldn’t be prouder of what we made together.” She said she started “alone in her bedroom” and built a movement that “shattered expectations.”
The numbers still tell the story.
“She lost by 40,” one X user wrote, quoting a Politico headline that had said Foxx might have a “real shot.”
Foxx got more than $670,000 from mostly small donors and tried to change the way people campaign in the field by using social media. It didn’t work.
Even though both candidates had almost the same platforms—supporting Medicare for All, tribal sovereignty, environmental justice, and being against Donald Trump—voters chose the name they knew.
Grijalva had lived in the area for decades, and it showed. She thanked her father and the voters who kept the legacy going in her victory speech.
She said, “This is not a win for me, but for our community and the progressive movement my dad started in Southern Arizona more than 50 years ago.”
“We sent a message that was based not only on fighting back against a dangerous and tyrannical government, but also on fighting for something: for our democracy, for the dignity of working people, and for the values that really define Southern Arizona.”
Progressives in New York are trying to primary the Democrat who leads the House.
Sources say that Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialist friends are thinking about running against some congressional Democrats in New York City next year, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
However, Fox News reported that a senior political advisor to Jeffries has promised that anyone who tries to unseat the top Democrat in the House during next year’s primaries will face a “forceful and unrelenting” response.
Two weeks ago, Mamdani, a 33-year-old Ugandan-born democratic socialist assemblyman from Queens, won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City by a wide margin over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates. This sent shockwaves through the political world.
His victory is a big step toward possibly becoming the first Muslim mayor of the city, but it also shows how far the Democratic Party is moving to the extreme left.
After Mamdani won the primary in June, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) said, “this movement is bigger than one person, election, city, or organization.”
The party also said, “We encourage everyone who is inspired by the Zohran campaign to join their local DSA or YDSA chapter and get involved so we can keep fighting with Zohran and DSA elected officials across the country to make the future we all deserve.”
Fox said that after Mamdani’s win, DSA leaders are thinking about running primary challenges against not only Jeffries but also other House Democrats from New York City, such as Reps. Ritchie Torres, Jerry Nadler, Dan Goldman, and Yvette Clarke.
