Arizona: Seventh District

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D)

Raul Grijalva (D) Elected 2002, 3d term up
Born:	02-19-1948, Tucson
Home:	Tucson
Education:	U. of AZ, B.A. 1985
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Ramona)
Elected  Office:	Tucson Unified Schl. Dist. Governing Bd., 1974-86; Pima Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors, 1988-2002.
Professional Career:	Asst. Dean of Hisp. Affairs, U. of AZ., 1987.
DC Office	1440 LHOB, 20515 202-225-2435 Fax: 202-225-1541 Website: www.house.gov/grijalva
State Offices	Tucson:520-622-6788; Yuma:928-343-7933;
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Southern Arizona, though technically part of Mexico for hundreds of years, was never a home to Hispanic civilization like northern New Mexico. Here the hot desert land was inhabited mainly by Indians who kept their native ways and language until English-speaking whites came in on cavalry horses, miners’ wagons and railroad cars in the late 19th century. This was after the 1854 Gadsden Purchase—$10 million to Mexico for 30,000 square miles of desert—cleared the way for a southern transcontinental railroad. Today’s Hispanic Arizonans are mostly descendants of later immigrants from Mexico, some who came over the border in the sleepier days before World War II, when la frontera was scarcely patrolled, and many more who have come since the 1980s to partake in the dazzling economic growth that has served as both an attraction and an example to so many norteno Mexicans.

The 7th Congressional District of Arizona was newly created in 2002 and is the state’s second Hispanic district; its population in 2000 was 51% Hispanic. It shares 300 miles of border with Mexico and is a collection of four distant communities connected by many square miles of uninhabited Sonoran desert. One is the suburb of Tolleson just west of downtown Phoenix. The second is the heavily Latino west side of Tucson. The third is Yuma, located at a Colorado River crossing in an irrigated agricultural valley, often the hottest place in the country. The fourth is the Mexican border town of Nogales, 94% Hispanic and near many maquiladora plants, long an entry point for illegal drugs and the scene of many illegal border crossings in recent years. The twin smuggling tides—drugs and people—have inflicted damage on the fragile desert ecosystem. In an interesting example of international cooperation the sister cities of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, have signed an agreement to respond jointly to fire and hazardous material emergencies. Out in the desert there is the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation and the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range (the largest aerial gunnery range after Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Range), which is twice the size of Delaware; 95% of it is not used for target practice as it is the habitat of the endangered Sonoran pronghorn antelope. Near Nogales, wilderness and wildlife—including endangered species such as the jaguar, peregrine falcon, Chiricahua leopard frog, and Mexican spotted owl—have been protected in the Tumacacori Highlands. With its brutal desert heat, the Baboquivari trail that runs north to the Tohono O’odham nation has been the deadliest immigrant crossing in the nation. Trash left behind by illegal crossers has caused growing environmental problems. The 7th District, home to seven Indian tribes, is one of two solidly Democratic districts in Arizona.

The congressman from the 7th District is Raul Grijalva, a Democrat first elected in 2002. He grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona; he has lived in the city all his life and has deep roots in the immigrant community on the city’s southwest side. He was director of El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, and assistant dean for Hispanic student affairs at the University of Arizona. In 1974 he was elected to the Tucson school board and served 12 years. In 1988 he was elected a Pima County Supervisor and served 14 years. As supervisor he backed an effort to extend medical and dental benefits to same-sex domestic partners of county employees and focused on affordable healthcare, family and children services, and growth. Developers and builders helped elect him to office, but his support for planned growth and impact fees later alienated them.

In 2002, the Democratic primary would obviously determine who would be the new congressman, and Grijalva entered with a home court advantage: 64% of the primary votes were cast in Pima County. His chief opponent was state Senator Elaine Richardson, who was endorsed by EMILY’s List and spent more than $500,000 on ads. She criticized him for wasting taxpayer money on a $3.8 million contract to survey all the manholes in Pima County. Although outspent nearly 3–1, Grijalva had a well-organized grassroots effort and endorsements from labor unions, teachers’ unions and the Sierra Club. Mocking his opponent’s national funding, Grijalva created “Adelita’s List”; the name alludes to the independent women who fought in the Mexican Revolution. He opposed any “privatization” of Social Security or increase in the retirement age. His proposals for immigration reform included an amnesty provision plus a comprehensive border policy with legalization, economic development, cost recovery, infrastructure enhancement and environmental protection. He won the primary with 41% to Richardson’s 21%. In Pima County, Grijalva got 54% of the vote. He won easily in November and his daughter Adelita won a seat on the school board.

In the House, Grijalva’s voting record is strongly liberal. On the Education and Workforce Committee, he promoted the “much improved” bipartisan agreement on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and urged full funding. As an alternative to George W. Bush’s immigration plan, he co-sponsored with Senator Edward Kennedy the SOLVE (Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcement) Act, which would legalize millions of workers who have been in the United States for five years and who can prove that they have worked and paid taxes for at least two of those years. Grijalva joined Tucson activists in calling for an investigation of alleged Border Patrol abuse and mistreatment of illegal immigrants, including excessive force and racial profiling. He sought to educate other members about environmental problems in economically depressed communities, and pushed for wilderness designation for the Tumacacori highlands. In August 2006, he dismissed Republican immigration hearings held throughout the Southwest as “a political road show.” He worked with other members of the Arizona delegation to resolve disputes over water rights with Indian reservations. In the majority, he became chairman of the influential Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, and he hoped to restrict mining in the Santa Rita Mountains because of environmental hazards.

Grijalva has been reelected easily; in 2004, his Republican challenger called for the military to shoot illegal aliens seeking to cross the border.

Committees

• Education & Labor (15th of 27 D)
  Healthy Families & Communities; Early Childhood, Elementary & Secondary Education.
• Natural Resources (10th of 27 D)
  National Parks, Forests & Public Lands (Chmn.); Insular Affairs.
• Small Business (5th of 18 D)
  Finance & Tax; Investigations & Oversight.

Presidential Vote

District Demographics (More Info)

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D +10
• Area size: 22,891 square miles
• Urban Population: 83.6%
• Rural Population: 16.4%
• Population 2000: 641,329
• Population 2005 (est): 748,502
• Median Income: $30,828
• Poverty Status: 21.8%
• Military Veterans: 13.3%
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 38.6% White; 2.8% Black; 1.3% Asian; 5.3% Native Am.; 0.1% Hawaiian; 1.3% Two+ races; 0.1% Other; 50.6% Hispanic Origin;
• Ancestry: 7.8% German%; 5.4% Irish%; 4.8% English%;
• Occupation: Blue collar 26.8%; White collar 51.4%; Gray collar 21.8%;