AZ Votes Debate: U.S. Congressional District 7 Republican candidates

Following the passing of Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D), three Republican candidates are running to replace him in Arizona’s Congressional District 7. District 7 covers a portion of southern Arizona, including parts of Yuma, Tucson and the metro Phoenix area. The area also covers a large majority of Arizona’s border with Mexico. Governor Katie Hobbs has set a primary election for July 15, and a general election for September 23, 2025.

The Republican candidates include Daniel Butierez, a small businessman who ran against Congressman Grijalva in the 2024 election, Jorge Rivas, owner of a Tucson restaurant, and Jimmy Rodriguez, a general contractor.

Two of the candidates, Butierez and Rivas, joined us on May 29, 2025, for a special debate on the issues affecting Congressional District 7 and why voters should elect them to the House of Representatives over their opponents. Mr. Rodriguez was invited to participate but declined to attend.

On why they are running in a district that heavily leans towards Democrats

Daniel Butierez: Last time I almost got 100,000 votes. I have name recognition. I was born in CD7, live in CD7, own two small businesses in CD7, and employ the residents of CD7. So I decided to run because I care about my community

Jorge Rivas: I believe that it is in critical need of great leadership, and I think I bring that to the table. Not only have I worked very hard to achieve what I have, but also god has blessed me with knowledge and skills and wisdom, and I wanted to use that to help my fellow citizens. Because I think for so many years, we had someone representing this district that didn’t really care or he wasn’t up to the task to do what was necessary.

On homelessness and fentanyl issues 

Jorge Rivas: The number of people we see now on the streets, homeless people. The number of people who are suffering, the great number of people that are dying of all the fentanyl and drugs that is coming in. No one did anything about it. Especially the congressmen, [he] didn’t do anything significant to make it stop.

Daniel Butierez: I blame the homeless issues on our current leadership in the mayor’s office, the board of supervisors. But Grijalva, what he did was he failed to act on our border, which allowed a lot of the drugs to come in. 

On if immigration enforcement should be allowed in public civic places such as churches and schools

Jorge Rivas: If it’s within the United States, and the laws of the United States apply to it, so be it. We cannot pick and choose where we enforce the laws, we cannot pick and choose when we enforce the laws.

Daniel Butierez: I don’t think we should be going into the churches or the schools at all. I don’t think law enforcement should be going into our schools or our churches. I believe they should be sanctuary areas.