Endorses Gen Z activist

David Hogg’s PAC endorses Gen Z activist Deja Foxx in Arizona special election

The party has largely coalesced behind Adelita Grijalva in the race to succeed her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva.

By Jessica Piper

David Hogg’s political group is backing Gen Z activist Deja Foxx in an upcoming Arizona congressional primary that could test voters’ appetite for generational change.

Leaders We Deserve announced its endorsement of Foxx ahead of the July 15 primary for a special election in Arizona’s safe-blue 7th District, describing the 25-year-old candidate as “holding Republicans and career politicians’ feet to the fire since she was 15 years old.”

“Deja has lived it — relying on Medicaid, Section 8 housing, and food stamps — working at a gas station to live on her own while her single mother struggled with addiction,” Hogg said in a statement, shared first with POLITICO. “Deja knows people like her haven’t been seen in politics, and she has translated her story to represent a new vision of generational change that speaks truth to Trump’s cruel policies.”

If victorious, the 25-year-old Foxx would become the youngest member of Congress.

The endorsement is the latest from Leaders We Deserve, a PAC that’s pledged to spend $20 million through 2026 and attracted ire from many establishment Democrats over its vow to primary “asleep-at-the-wheel” incumbents. Hogg, who is 25 years old, was voted out of his role as vice chair at the Democratic National Committee on a technical matter after the backlash to that plan. The group has not yet endorsed against any incumbents ahead of potential 2026 primaries.

Foxx garnered national attention as a high schooler challenging then-Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake over Planned Parenthood funding at a town hall. She is now among five candidates competing to replace the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who died in March after battling lung cancer. His daughter Adelita Grijalva, a former member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, has received the most endorsements from lawmakers and is generally regarded as the favorite. Also running is Daniel Hernández, a former state representative and intern to Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was credited with helping to save her life when she was shot in 2011.

A poll commissioned by Foxx’s campaign and released Tuesday found her at 35 percent, still second behind Grijalva but up 25 points from her standing in a poll a few months earlier.

The endorsement is the PAC’s second for a special congressional election this year; the group previously backed state Del. Irene Shin for the upcoming special election in Virginia’s 11th District to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly. It is also backing Illinois state Sen. Robert Peters in an open primary in that state’s 2nd District next year and endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral primary. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, is now the Democratic nominee.

“I’m proud to be in this fight with Leaders We Deserve, an organization that understands the power of young people to transform politics and fight for communities that have been left out,” Foxx said in a statement.

Grijalva snagged the backing of Democratic Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, and progressive leaders Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). That puts the Hogg PAC at odds with major figures in both wings of the Democratic party.

The winner of this primary will almost assuredly prevail in the special election, scheduled for September.