Democrat special election winner could force House to take up Epstein files discharge petition

Democratic candidate Adelita Grijalva comfortably defeated her Republican opponent in a special election in Arizona on Tuesday, giving Democrats enough signatures to force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein case files when the House resumes legislative business in early October.

A discharge petition offered by Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna that would compel the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release files associated with the disgraced financier has stalled in recent weeks as nearly all GOP lawmakers have declined to sign it. Grijalva’s victory to succeed her late father, longtime lawmaker Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, is expected to deliver the requisite 218th signature to force a vote on releasing the files.

Adelita Grijalva, 54, trounced Republican candidate Daniel Butierez in the heavily Democratic district 68.5% to 29.8% with 87% of the vote in, according to CNN. The Arizona Democrat told reporters before her election victory that she would sign the discharge petition upon being sworn in. The House of Representatives is expected to return to Washington in early October.

“This is as much about fulfilling Congress’s duty as a constitutional check on this administration as it is about demanding justice for survivors,” Grijalva told Politico in an interview. “The days of turning a blind eye to Trump must end.”

A discharge petition is a rarely successful legislative maneuver that allows lawmakers to circumvent leadership and bring legislation to the floor. Lawmakers can trigger a vote on legislation if 218 members — a simple majority — sign the petition.

House Republican leadership has sought to prevent the Massie-Khanna petition from coming to the floor, arguing that the House Oversight Committee’s Epstein probe will yield additional information.

The White House has said that GOP lawmakers signing onto the discharge petition will be seen “as a very hostile act.” Trump has also frequently referred to the controversy related to the late convicted sex predator as a “hoax” pushed by Democrats to score political points.

Despite sustained pressure from Trump and GOP leadership, three Republicans, in addition to Massie, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado have bucked their party to sign the petition.

It is unclear whether Speaker Mike Johnson would attempt to block the legislation from coming to the floor upon the discharge petition cinching 218 signatures. House GOP leadership successfully killed a discharge petition in April from Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna that would have allowed lawmakers who are new parents to vote remotely for three months following the birth of their child.

Adelita Grijalva will join the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus, which her father co-chaired from 2009 to 2019.

Raul Grijalva, who represented the deep blue southwestern Arizona district for more than two decades, died from cancer in March. After the younger Grijalva is sworn in, the House will still have two vacancies remaining due to Texas Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death in March and Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green’s resignation in July.

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