Who is Deja Foxx? Arizona Democratic primary challenger rejects 'influencer' tag
Activist and social media personality Deja Foxx has fallen short in her bid for the Democratic nomination to to replace Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the once Democratic stalwart of Southern Arizona who died from lung cancer in March.
The 25-year-old was one of three major candidates in the Democratic primary July 15, which Adelita Grijalva, former Pima County Supervisor and daughter of the late representative, led Tuesday night.
Grijalva led Foxx by 18,929 as of 11:30 p.m. ET, according to the Arizona Secretary of State's office. The Associated Press estimates that about 65% of the ballots cast have been counted and has called the race for Grijalva.
The winner of Tuesday's primary will be the favorite to head to Washington from southern Arizona, as a Democrat has held the seat since it was created following the 2000 census.
Here's what you need to know about Deja Foxx.
Who is Deja Foxx?
Foxx was raised in Tucson by her single mother and experienced homelessness in childhood due to her mother's struggle with substance abuse, according to her campaign website.
Foxx first rose to viral prominence in 2017, when she directly challenged then-Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake at a town hall for his stance on birth control and abortion.
"I'm wondering, as a Planned Parenthood patient and someone who relies on Title X, who you are clearly not, why it's your right to take away my right to choose Planned Parenthood and to choose no-copay birth control, to access that," Foxx said. "If you can explain that to me, I would appreciate it."
Flake announced his retirement later that year.
Foxx worked for Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential campaign and hosted the Hotties for Harris party at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, according to Politico.
Foxx part of young Democratic wave
Foxx is one of a wave of young Democratic candidates who say they aim to remake the party that lost the White House last November.
David Hogg, activist and former co-vice chair of the Democratic Party, and his political group, Leaders We Deserve, have endorsed Foxx in the primary.
The two Democratic Senators from Arizona endorsed Grijalva - a move Foxx described to the Arizona Republic, part of the Paste BN Network, as "putting their thumb on the scale in my race" – along with left-wing independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and progressive Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Foxx's stances lean to the left of the Democratic coalition, with her website stating, "housing is a human right" and calling for a $17 an hour federal minimum wage.
Her previous work within the Democratic party is a contrast to Democratic Socialists of America-aligned challengers, such as Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh.
Foxx told the Republic that voters would be able to decide whether the political experience of Grijalva or her lived experience of relying on government programs would matter more on primary day.
"She’s never relied on Medicaid, or food stamps, or Section 8 housing: The things that Donald Trump has in his crosshairs,” Foxx said. “That’s a depth that I think most politicians lack … They don’t know what it’s like for people in D.C. to debate the things that you live on, that you need just to get by.”
Foxx rejects "influencer" label
Foxx told the Republic earlier this month that she rejects the label of influencer.
“I think that people label me an influencer in an attempt to belittle the work that I do,” she said. "My first video that ever went viral, and the subsequent drumbeat of viral videos I’ve had, have had everything to do with my advocacy work on the ground."
She told the newspaper that she believes it is reductive to label her as simply being an online personality.
"Every save is something that has inspired someone enough that they want to come back to it … And every like is an endorsement that we are doing something different," Foxx said.