Arizona
Arizona State Fair 2024: 12 wildest new foods — cotton candy cake to bacon taco
Best things to eat at the Arizona State Fair in 2023
These are the fair foods worth standing in line for at the Arizona State Fair, from tacos to sweet treats.
The 2024 Arizona State Fair is just around the corner. Some guests may go for the rides, the carnival games, the concerts at the Coliseum or the farm animals on display. But perhaps one of the most exciting things about the state fair is the chance to try all the wacky foods, from ooey gooey desserts to deep-fried everything.
This year, vendors at the Arizona State Fair are introducing over 40 new menu items across the fairgrounds, including cakes made of cotton candy and pretzels covered in Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Here are 12 of the wildest new foods to try at the 2024 Arizona State Fair.
Cowboy Crunch
A sweet dessert option is the Cowboy Crunch, which comprises a thick and chewy oatmeal cookie crumble loaded and topped with chocolate chips, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Available at Totally Baked Cookie Joint (#31 on the map).
Fried Giant Mozzarella Stick
This is not your average mozzarella stick. The fried giant mozzarella stick is exactly what it sounds like: a deep fried, 8-inch mozzarella stick. Available at Hog Daddy’s Roadhouse (#82).
Ultimate Arizona State Fair 2024 guide: Concerts, tickets, hours and location
Pretzels
Three new pretzels are available from Going Nuts (#28). The first is the massive chocolate nut twist, covered in a white chocolate and chocolate drizzle and chopped pecans. Then there is the Flaming hot twist, which comprises nacho cheese on a Bavarian style pretzel topped with Hot Cheeto crunch. Finally, there is the cinnamon twist, covered in white chocolate drizzle and cinnamon sugar crystals.
Watermelon Taco
The new watermelon taco features a slice of watermelon scooped out to resemble a taco shell, filled with your choice of mango, pineapple or watermelon soft serve topped with a tamarind stick. Available at Pineapple Express (#13).
Candied Watermelon or Pineapple
Pineapple Express (#13) is also introducing the option of either a watermelon or pineapple slice on a stick, wrapped in a fruit roll up and topped with chamoy and tajin.
Pickle Split
Another new item from Pineapple Express (#13) is the pickle split: imagine a traditional banana split. Now imagine it with dill pickle, pineapple dole whip, sour spaghetti straw candy and chamoy tajin. Still can’t imagine how that would taste? You’ll simply have to try it (or not).
Spam-on-a-stick
One of the greatest joys of the state fair is all sorts of foods served on a stick. The new spam-on-a-stick takes the canned meat you’re probably familiar with and batters and deep fries it. Available at Boba King (#21).
Crispy Chicken Funnel Cake
The new crispy chicken funnel cake takes the classic state fair dessert and adds a savory twist. Available at Stizzy’s Iron Skillet Funnel Cakes (#64).
Birthday Cake Shake
If you’re celebrating your birthday during state fair season, what better way than with a cake batter milkshake topped with a funfetti cupcake? Available at Swirl Ice Cream (#24).
Cotton Candy Cake
Another option for state fair birthdays, the cotton candy cake is a multi-layered cake made entirely of cotton candy and sprinkled with colorful sugar crystals. Available at Candyland (#7).
Elephant Ears
Since the state fair is known for insane foods, it feels necessary to clarify these are not actual elephant ears. This new treat from Mason’s Den (#20) comprises giant pieces of golden-brown, deep-fried dough topped with cinnamon and sugar.
Bacon Taco
Exactly what it sounds like: this new item from Carne Cafe Taco Stand (#49) comprises a hard taco shell stuffed with bacon.
Reach the reporter at endia.fontanez@gannett.com. Follow @EndiaFontanez on X, formerly Twitter.
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Voters in southern Arizona have nominated Democrat Adelita Grijalva to advance to a special general election to replace the late U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District.
Raúl Grijalva, who is Adelita’s father, was one of the most senior and progressive power brokers on Capitol Hill.
His death in March left the seat wide open for the first time in over two decades. Grijalva was a champion of environmental protections and reliably went to bat for immigrants and Native American tribes. He routinely breezed past GOP challengers in the deep-blue district, which stretches across most of the state’s border with Mexico and includes parts of Tucson and nearby counties.
Adelita Grijalva was among a batch of Democratic hopefuls seeking the nomination in the primary for the 7th Congressional District seat. Grijalva, a progressive, has said upholding democracy, standing up for immigrant rights and protecting access to Medicaid and Medicare are among her top priorities. She racked up a lengthy list of heavyweight endorsements — including Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and several state and local officials.
She was up against former state lawmaker Daniel Hernandez; digital strategist and reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx; Indigenous activist and scholar Jose Malvido Jr.; and retired health care executive Patrick Harris Sr.
Painting company owner Daniel Butierez secured the GOP nomination in Tuesday’s election. He will face Adelita Grijalva in the special general election on Sept. 23. Butierez captured more than one-third of the vote in the 2024 election against Raúl Grijalva.
Off-road vehicle businessman Jimmy Rodriguez and restaurant owner Jorge Rivas also vied for the GOP bid.
The seat will not decide control of the U.S. House, but it is one of three vacancies in heavily Democratic districts that, when filled in special elections this fall, will likely chip away at Republicans’ slender 220-212 majority in the chamber.
Democrats have a nearly 2-1 ratio registration advantage over Republicans in the 7th District.
Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly dies after fight against esophageal cancer
Rep. Gerry Connolly, 75, died after a battle with esophageal cancer and was remembered by his family for his advocacy, democracy defense, and service in Congress.
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Voters in southern Arizona will have a good sense of who might succeed the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva – one of three septuagenarian Democrats who died while serving in Congress since the start of this year – after July 15.
The Democratic and Republican primaries on Tuesday come two months before the special election on Sept. 23. But, in the deep blue stronghold, whoever comes out on top among the handful of candidates on the left will have the general upper hand.
Adelita Grijalva, the late congressman’s daughter and former member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, is the leading contender for the Democratic nomination, in what has become a microcosm of an ongoing national debate about the future of the party.
Also in the mix in Arizona is a more moderate former intern for former Rep. Gabby Giffords, as well as a Gen-Z social media savant.
On the Republican side, three candidates face off in hopes they can defeat more than two decades of precedent.
Grijalva, a staunch progressive, champion of environmental issues and congressman of over twenty years, died in March at the age of 77 following a battle with lung cancer.
The special election to fill his seat is one of three that will be held this year to fill House vacancies prompted by the death of a congressmember, all Democrats.
Grijalva’s daughter leads three-way Democratic contest
Adelita Grijalva, 54, is the expected frontrunner leading in the special election’s limited polling.
Taking up her father’s progressive mantle, Grijalva said in a debate on June 10 that his work in office “is the legacy that shaped me.”
Her campaign has garnered a slew of endorsements from prominent groups and figures, in and out of the state, including both Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, and fellow progressives Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Her main competitors include former state legislator Daniel Hernandez, 35, who had been working for one week as an intern to Giffords when a gunman opened fire at her Tucson constituent event in 2011. Hernandez, then a 20-year-old college student, has been credited with saving Giffords’ life by rushing toward her when she was shot in the head and staunching the bleeding.
The race in Arizona is a three-way contest between Hernandez, Grijalva and 25-year-old Deja Foxx, a popular social media strategist and activist.
While Grijalva has the political establishment’s backing (and Hernandez has his own endorsements from lawmakers like New York Rep. Ritchie Torres), Foxx has attracted support from some Democratic disruptors seeking a major shift in the party.
David Hogg, activist and former co-vice chair of the Democratic Party, and his political group, Leaders We Deserve, have endorsed Foxx’s grassroots campaign.
Democratic primary winner has the upper hand
Tuesday’s Democratic primary will be a good indication of who will ultimately win the seat and provide insight into voters’ hopes for the party.
Whichever Democrat comes out on top will be in the prime position to win in September, given the 7th district’s historically liberal leaning.
Three Republicans – Daniel Butierez, Jimmy Rodriguez and Jorge Rivas – hope to buck the region’s longstanding tradition of going Democrat. All are businessmen with thin political resumes.
The winner of the July 15 Republican primary faces a steep general election battle, regardless of opponent.
Aid for House Democrats
Congressional Democrats are counting on a Democrat to win in southern Arizona.
The outcome of this special election will help them tighten the margin in the House and put extra pressure on Republicans, who are already working with a narrow majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s intraparty tightrope was evident early in July during the passage of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax, spending and policy legislation.
In a campaign video on July 4, the day Trump signed the bill into law, Foxx, one of Arizona’s trio of Democratic candidates, said Republicans won “not because Democrats didn’t fight hard enough, but because three Dem congressmen died, while in office, and handed MAGA Republicans the advantage.”
Grijalva’s death came a week after former Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, died at 70. In May, Virginia’s Rep. Gerry Connolly, 75, was the third Democrat to die in office.
A special election to replace Connolly will be held in northern Virginia on Sept. 9. Texas’ 18th Congressional District, in the Houston area, will select Turner’s successor later on Nov. 4.
A raging wildfire near the Grand Canyon in the US has destroyed dozens of buildings – including a historic lodge that was the only accommodation available within the surrounding national park’s North Rim.
The fire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge is one of two that has swept across tens of thousands of acres in the area.
The blazes have also forced the closure of the North Rim for the remainder of the 2025 tourist season.
Authorities in the state of Arizona are still working to contain the fires, which have been dubbed the Dragon Bravo Fire and White Sage Fire.
Located approximately 8,000ft (2,438m), the Grand Canyon Lodge also included dining facilities, a gift shop and post office. It had been operating since the 1930s.
“As stewards of some of our country’s most beloved national treasures, we are devastated by the loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge,” Aramark, the company that operated the lodge, said in a statement.
“We are grateful that all of our employees and guests have been safely evacuated,” the statement added.
No injuries are reported to have been caused by the blaze, which was fuelled by sustained winds that reached up to 40mph (64km/h).
But preliminary assessments from the National Park Service (NPS) indicate that between 50 and 80 buildings have been lost to the Dragon Bravo Fire, including administrative buildings and visitor facilities.
Firefighters in several areas were forced to evacuate due to a leak of chlorine at a nearby water treatment facility, the NPS added.
Chlorine gas is heavier than air and can settle in lower elevations, potentially posing a risk to both firefighters and hikers in the area.
The second blaze, the White Sage Fire, has so far burned more than 40,000 acres of the Kaibab National Forest, forcing hundreds to evacuate.
Both the fires are believed to have been started by lightning, the park service said.
Nearly five million people visited the Grand Canyon in 2024, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US.
The canyon’s South Rim remains open.
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