At the age of 77, Democratic Congressman Raúl Grijalva passes away

Congressman Democrat Raúl Grijalva passed away at age 77. The news was confirmed by his office, which said that he had been battling cancer for months. During his more than 20 years in the House of Representatives, the Arizona Democrat chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the House Natural Resources Committee.

Grijalva, who was re-elected in 2024, had already announced he would not seek another term in 2026 due to his battle with illness.

"The Office of the 7th District of Arizona is saddened to announce the passing of Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva. Rep. Grijalva fought a long and brave battle. He passed away this morning due to complications of his cancer treatments," the Democrat's office said.

"Serving Southern Arizona was the honor of Raúl M. Grijalva's life. Having represented our communities for over 50 years was a privilege. We thank all of you for the trust, support, and the partnership that you gave to Rep. Grijalva over the years. We are especially grateful to Rep. Grijalva's family for their friendship and keeping it 'all about the love,'" they added.

Specifically, he represented the 7th Congressional District between 2003 and 2013, the 3rd District between 2013 and 2023, then returned to the now redrawn 7th District between 2023 and through 2025.

In 2024 he made national news by becoming the second member of Congress to publicly invite Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race. "f he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere. What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race," he told the New York Times in July 2024.

His passing, coupled with that of Congressman Sylvester Turner of Texas, leaves Democrats with 213 members. In addition, until a special election is held to replace him, the simple majority in the lower house will go to 216 votes.