There’s only one reason you’d like to be called the “establishment candidate” in an election campaign.
It probably means you’re in the lead.
Other than that, especially now in the Democratic Party, being part of “the establishment” is a downer. That’s one of the lessons people are taking from the recent nomination of Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist outsider, as Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, along with other party battles.
Adelita Grijalva, seen here during a Democratic primary debate in June.
It’s also why you see opponents of Adelita Grijalva calling her the “establishment” candidate in the race for the Democratic Party nomination in Congressional District 7. Democratic primary voters are angry and looking for somebody to take on the party’s establishment, who many think have not been fighting hard enough against President Trump.
The 25-year-old newcomer Deja Foxx, in particular, has pointed to Grijalva as part of “the establishment” in making the case for herself as an outsider. She argued to the Arizona Republic that other “establishment” Democrats such as U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego are trying “to box me out.”
The other well-known Democratic candidate out of the five running for the nomination also labeled Grijalva the “establishment” candidate.
“Adelita has been in office since I was 13 years old. Her father was in office longer than I’ve been alive,” Daniel Hernandez Jr. told me in a text message. “I don’t see more of an establishment candidate than someone who has been office for over 20 years and whose father was in office for nearly 50 years.”
Still, the “establishment” accusation seems a bit baffling to Grijalva. She grew up the daughter of a rabble-rouser who forged his own political machine as a leftier, Latino-led alternative to the centrist, Anglo-led Democratic establishment.
“I have to admit, I know my dad would have a good laugh if he heard people calling him “the establishment,” she wrote in an Arizona Daily Star guest column Monday. “The words ‘Grijalva’ and ‘establishment’ have never been used in the same sentence, unless you insert ‘fighting the’ in between.”
In a written statement Tuesday, Grijalva added, “When the Democratic Party wasn’t investing in candidates who looked like me or came from communities like mine, we forged our own path. Built alongside teachers, union organizers, environmentalists, and lifelong activists, the ‘Grijalva machine’ is powered by people who have always fought for justice, not power. If that makes us the ‘establishment’ in Tucson, then maybe it’s time to rethink what that word really means.”
To me, what it means is they won enough elections to gain significant political power. Outsiders, both Democrats and Republicans, view the “Grijalva machine” as an unstoppable force in local elections.
A Grijalva ally, Regina Romero, has been Tucson mayor for almost six years, having won two elections to the post. And at least two other members of the City Council are also close Grijalva allies, with more possibly in the wings depending on this year’s election results.
Same thing at the Pima County Board of Supervisors and Tucson Unified School District board: At least two members on each board are members of the Grijalva group, while others frequently are aligned with their points of view.
Once upon a time, locally, the Grijalva network was anti-establishment. Then it won enough elections to become the local Democratic establishment. Now its progressive views are dominant in many local boards.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Raul Grijalva became “establishment” in Congress. I asked former Rep. Ron Barber, who served alongside Grijalva from 2012 to 2015, about whether he viewed Grijalva that way.
“If a member of Congress is outside of the mainstream of the party and what it espouses, then they could be called anti-establishment. Certainly, Raul Grijalva challenged the establishment all of the time,” Barber said.
But locally, it can be hard to be a Democrat, especially on the south and west sides, who doesn’t ally himself with the Grijalva group. Hernandez recalled that when he decided to run for office, “I never asked for permission, so he (Raul Grijalva) ran people against me basically every time I ran for office.”
Of course, this election is about Adelita Grijalva, the candidate, not her late father, even if he casts a long shadow over the race.
The trick for her is to translate the “establishment” label into something more appealing. “Establishment” can just as well mean accomplished, skilled, wise, able.
Grijalva has also been talking about herself as a “fighter” against Trump, something the party’s primary voters clearly want. Maybe it’s possible to be both — establishment and a fighter. If Grijalva can show that’s not a contradiction, she may have the race locked up.
