Voters in southern Arizona are heading to the polls this week, deciding who will take the place of Arizona’s late longtime U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva. And while his own daughter, Adelita Grijalva, is polling ahead, it’s another candidate who’s making all of the headlines in this race.
Deja Fox, 25, the young political upstart, is using TikTok and a progressive message to attract attention nationwide.
She’s what Phil Boas calls Arizona’s own Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Boaz is a columnist for the Arizona Republic. He joined The Show along with editorial page editor Elvia Díaz to talk more about it.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: Phil, I want to start with you here. Deja Foxx is not your kind of candidate traditionally on the political spectrum, right? But she seems to have really captured your attention. And you’re not the only one. Tell us why.
PHIL BOAS: You know, it’s really interesting, but we have this special election in CD7, southern Arizona, Raúl Grijalva’s old congressional seat. And the most interesting issue, the big issue is the winds of change within the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party right now is really in disarray. It’s licking its wounds from the presidential contest that it lost. Its polling is at historic lows in voter confidence. It’s losing all kinds of support among key demographics, especially with men and Latino men, working class people. So it comes at a time when there is much in flux.
And here you have this young candidate in Arizona who really got her first 15 minutes of fame back when she was 16 years old and challenged (former U.S. Sen.) Jeff Flake at one of his town hall meetings.
And she’s managed to make that 15 minutes last and has really become an interesting person within the party and somebody worth watching. And I’ll just tell you really quickly, what drew my attention to it was something she said in the CD7 debate, and that is, “When I was 16, I needed a fighter, so I became one.”
And I love that. That was something I wanted to share with my kids, “You’ve got to hear what this young person just said, this 25 year old woman who grew up in poverty.”
GILGER: And she’s got quite a story: growing up in poverty in Tucson, Section 8 housing, a single mom, like all of these things. Elvia, do you think that the Democratic Party is ready to listen to somebody like this, somebody who’s so young and seemingly different?
ELVIA DÍAZ: No, they’re not. And you know what? I am with Phil that I like a fairy tale, conceptually. And, she has gotten a lot of attention and she has gotten the attention of Democrats as well. And no, I don’t think the Democrats are ready to have someone like her or listen to her. And that’s part of the problem that Phil was, was talking about.
In CD7, we have Adelita Grijalva, who is a daughter of the late (Congressman), and the establishment Democratic Party and Democrats usually look at races like that almost as an entitlement. We have seen that in races. We saw that here in Phoenix, like the daughter may be great, but you’re not entitled to that seat.
So fight it out. Fight it out. And so all the established Democrats are behind Adelita and dismissing this young woman, this candidate. So no, you require someone like her to shake things up and until the Democratic Party — and any party, really — like, “If you are not serving us, we will take matters into our own hands.”
And we know that it — I mean, I’m not going to call her extreme — but we know the people from the far left and the far right usually do great in the primaries, and then they don’t do well in the general election. In this case, it is a primary. It is a safe district, though. It’s a Democratic district. So whoever wins here might actually take the seat.
GILGER: Yeah, yeah. So let me ask you about some of the substance behind a candidate like this, Phil. Does this represent more than just style? A lot of the criticism that I’ve seen of a candidate like Foxx is that, “Yes. Like, we might need a new message. Yes, we might need a new face. A younger generation. But is this about substantial change? Does she have the experience to carry this through?”
BOAS: Well, she wouldn’t be there if she didn’t have some substance. She is very well-spoken, telegenic. She has been involved in politics for 10 years and at a very young age. She understands that the coin of the realm today is internet audience, and she has a tremendous following on the internet.
She has had articles done on her by national magazines and also major newspapers: the Washington Post, Newsweek was asking if she’s the next AOC. She wouldn’t last this long if it were all a vapor. She has real dynamism, and it shows.
And it’s fun to see new leaders emerging from Gen Z. They’re coming along. She’s got the backing of David Hogg, another 25-year-old who’s kind of a dissident within the party. But Gen Z is sort of throwing up their fist and saying, “We’re we’re coming. We’re next. It’s time for us, and we’re going to make our mark now.”
GILGER: So, Elvia, what do you think about that? Like you said, the Democratic Party establishment has not exactly embraced Foxx, but there does seem to be a reckoning coming for the Democrats. They’re in such disarray, like Phil talked about. Do you think that they need to take a page out of this book, they need to at least listen to what this generation has to say in order to move forward?
DÍAZ: Yes. And you know what? I was trying not to laugh when Phil was talking, because what experience are people talking about? I mean, she’s 25, and we’re talking about Congress. Has anyone been looking at Congress lately? What are we talking about? Are we talking about business experience, political experience, dealing with congressional folks?
Oh, come on, it’s in total disarray right now. So the kind of experience that you need is essentially dealing with people and connecting with people and making deals. So more importantly here is about the substance of what these candidates are going to do for the district. That’s what I would be looking for. Not the age, not the experience.
And I don’t live in that district. But if I did, that’s what I would be looking for, regardless of who they are. I mean, are they going to connect? Are they really going to pay attention to, again, the needs of the district versus themselves?
And then the other question was, Are Democrats going to have a reckoning? They’re already having a reckoning. And they should pay attention to how people come to this like her, actually connecting with real people with a message that resonates with them. That’s that’s what they need, and that’s what they’re suffering from right now.
GILGER: Phil, where would a candidate like this, should she win — which seems unlikely still at this point. But if a candidate like this should win — like, a similar candidate won in New York City, right? Where does that take the Democratic Party? Could they compete with a Trump run or even a post-Trump GOP?
BOAS: Well, the establishment Democrats are fearful that they take them way too far to the left. But that seems to be where the energy is in the party right now. And that’s where the young people are today. (Foxx) has the ability to build audience and the potential to build a national following. And that is power. And it’s the way the world is today.
And she has that kind of potential. Is she going to win? Probably not. But is she the future of the party? I would bet that she is.
