Arizona
Harris and Walz to hold rally in Arizona, while Trump will visit Montana
Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate will hold a rally in Arizona as part of their tour of electoral battlegrounds, visiting a state where Harris passed over a prominent Democrat in favor of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and gun control advocate, had been a top contender for running mate.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is visiting Montana for a rally in support of Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. The former president hopes to remedy some unfinished business from 2018, when he campaigned repeatedly in Big Sky Country in a failed bid to oust incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp insists he’s not getting bogged down by Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump’s intraparty attacks over Kemp’s refusal to help overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The Republican governor called Trump’s recent broadsides at an Atlanta campaign rally and on the Truth Social platform “a lot of noise” and jokingly compared Trump to a tropical storm.
“This big storm came through the state this week – and now we’re dealing with Tropical Storm Debby,” Kemp said at conservative radio host Erick Erickson’s annual conference, “The Gathering,” in the Buckhead section of Atlanta.
Kemp repeated his pledge to support the GOP nominee and renewed his warnings that Republicans should stop focusing on the 2020 election and false assertions that Biden won Georgia and nationally because of fraud.
“We’re going to use our political operation to win Georgia despite past grievances,” Kemp told Erickson, adding that the efforts would “help Republicans up and down the ticket.”
Of course, Kemp’s political operation is focusing on competitive Georgia legislative districts that are key to maintaining GOP majorities at the statehouse, meaning potential Republican voters in other swaths of the hotly contested state may not be reached by the Kemp organization before November.
Throughout the discussion with Erickson, Kemp did not say Trump’s name.
For a brief moment this week, the fierce competition for swing voters in swing-state Wisconsin converged on the tarmac of the tiny Chippewa Valley Regional Airport.
Minutes after Vice President Kamala Harris landed with her new running mate Tim Walz for their first campaign stop in the state, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance arrived. He walked across the tarmac to check out Air Force Two, just missing Harris.
The close encounter of the political kind could be written off as a coincidence if it happened anywhere other than Wisconsin, one of a small number of states that will not only determine the winner of the presidential race but could also shape the balance of power in Congress. But it sent a much louder signal that both parties understand the importance of a region that could tip the balance of power in more ways than one.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate will hold a rally in Arizona on Friday as part of their tour of electoral battlegrounds, visiting a state where Harris passed over a prominent Democrat in favor of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and gun control advocate, had been a top contender for running mate. He’s won two tough races in politically divided Arizona.
In passing over Kelly, Harris may have also lost the chance to win over people like Gonzalo Leyva, a 49-year-old landscaper in Phoenix. Leyva plans to vote for former President Donald Trump, a Republican, but says he would have backed a Harris-Kelly ticket.
“I prefer Kelly like 100 times,” said Leyva, a lifelong Democrat who became an independent at the beginning of Trump’s term in office. “I don’t think he’s that extreme like the other guys.”
With control of the Senate potentially at stake, Donald Trump is visiting Montana on Friday hoping to remedy some unfinished business from 2018, when he campaigned repeatedly in Big Sky Country in a failed bid to oust incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
Tester has tried to convince voters he’s aligned with Trump on many issues, mirroring his successful strategy from six years ago. While that worked in a non-presidential election year, it faces a more critical test this fall with Tester’s opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, trying to link the three-term incumbent to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
If Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are elected this fall, not only would a woman of color lead the country for the first time, but a Native woman also would govern a state for the first time in U.S. history.
Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota and a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, is poised to serve as the state’s next governor should Walz step down to accept the role of U.S. vice president. Her rise to power has been watched closely by Indigenous peoples in Minnesota and across the country who see her as a champion of policies that positively affect Native Americans.
Believe it or not, the 2026 All-Star Game voting process has already begun, as of Wednesday. Fans who want to see their favorite members of the Arizona Diamondbacks take the field in the midsummer classic this season can begin voting for their stars.
There are certainly some deserving players on this Diamondbacks club, which is currently 32-28 and occupying the third Wild Card sport in the National League.
Here’s how and where you can vote for your hometown heroes:
How to vote for Diamondbacks players to make All-Star Game
Fans can utilize the following link to vote for members of their team on dbacks.com. Fans are permitted to fill out and submit as many as five ballots per day, selecting as many or as few players as they choose.
This period of the fan vote constitutes Phase 1 of All-Star voting, which will run from Wednesday, June 3 through Thursday, June 25 at 9:00 a.m. Arizona time (12:00 p.m. Eastern time).
Following Phase 1, the two overall top vote-getters will receive automatic berths into the All-Star lineups. If those two are not Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge once again, that would be an upset.
When and where is the 2026 All-Star Game?
The 2026 All-Star Game will take place at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies in Philadelphia. All-Star week begins on June 10, with a full slate of activities, before the game is played on Tuesday, July 14 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time (5:00 p.m. Arizona time).
The full schedule of events are as follows:
- Friday, July 10: HBCU Swingman Classic
- Saturday, July 11: 2026 MLB Draft
- Sunday, July 12: All-Star Sunday, MLB Futures Game, MLBx All-Star 3-on-3
- Monday, July 13: T-Mobile Home Run Derby (8:00 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, July 14: All-Star Red Carpet, All-Star Game
Which Diamondbacks are deserving All-Stars?
| Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
So, who should Diamondbacks fans vote for? Obviously, you may fill out the ballot however you choose. That can include a full roster of Diamondbacks, regardless of their stats or notoriety this season.
Still, here are some of the top performing D-backs who might have a leg up on an All-Star berth:
OF Corbin Carroll
Corbin Carroll is having another All-Star worthy season. He’s hitting .289/.380/.545 with a .925 OPS and eight home runs, while playing good right field defense. He has the eighth-most bWAR (2.7) among position players, fifth-most in the National League, and third-most among all pure outfielders.
2B Ketel Marte
If Marte wins the NL second base fan vote, it will be his third straight season starting the All-Star game. Despite such a slow start to the year, that feels possible again. Marte is hitting .259/.315/.456 with 10 homers and is playing the best defense of his career.
3B Nolan Arenado
Nolan Arenado is quietly putting together one of his better seasons of the 2020s, slashing .269/.351/.467 with eight homers and flashing his elite third base glove at nearly as good a pace as ever. His name still carries a lot of weight in third base conversations; he’ll get some votes, no matter what.
1B Ildemaro Vargas
Vargas’ bat has cooled down quite a bit since his historic start to 2026. He’s still hitting a sturdy .290/.318/.454, but feels more likely to be considered as a reserve selection than a leading vote-getter.
Honorable Mention: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
Pitchers are not selected by the fan vote. They are selected by player ballots and the All-Star Game managers. The National League’s manager will be Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, again.
The National League has quite a few talented pitchers, but Eduardo Rodriguez currently holds the fifth-best starting pitcher ERA (2.24) among NL hurlers. It’s going to be difficult to dethrone Christopher Sanchez or Jacob Misiorowski, but Rodriguez could find his way into the pitching pool, especially after his WBC heroics for Team Venezuela.
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Arizona State has added Michael White to its coaching staff for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. White will join the program as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
“I am incredibly honored to return to my home state and join this elite program,” White said. “I’m proud to say that I am coming home. I can’t thank Coach Herbie enough for the opportunity to join his incredible staff and help these young athletes grow and develop into the best individuals they can be. There are so many friends and mentors who have left their mark on this program, and I’m excited for the opportunity to leave mine and help take this program to new heights. Go Devils!”
White arrives with the Sun Devils after most recently spending the last three seasons with Alabama as an assistant. The Alabama women finished 11th at the 2026 NCAA Championships while the men were 24th.
Prior to arriving at Alabama, White spent the 2022-2023 season as a volunteer assistant at Wisconsin. He primarily coached the freestyle, breaststroke and distance groups for the Badgers. In addition to coaching the Badgers, he also was an assistant senior coach with the Madison Aquatics Club for the year. He began his coaching career at Juniata College in Pennsylvania as a volunteer assistant from 2019-2021.
White spent his collegiate career at St. Bonaventure in New York. There he was a 7x individual Atlantic-10 champion and swam to three school records as a senior with a 1:47.30 200 IM, 3:52.18 400 IM, and a 1:47.70 200 fly. He also was team captain for two season and helped the team capture the 2014 A-10 team title.
The Scottsdale, Arizona native will return to his home state. He was a 2012 AIA Division I state champion in the 100 breast and 200 IM as a senior for Dobson High School.
White joins the coaching staff led by head coach Herbie Behm, who is already known to be an innovative coach. Behm spoke of White’s innovation as well saying, “Mike is one of the best young coaches in the NCAA. His interview blew me away with the innovative ideas he presented. I can’t wait to start implementing those ideas and continue our growth at ASU.”
Arizona State swept the 2026 Big 12 team titles, and the men went on to finish 4th at 2026 NCAAs while the women were 37th. Rising senior Ilya Kharun captured the NCAA title in the 200 fly with a 1:37.66.
Arizona is ranked 18th in the nation when it comes to racial equality in the classroom, according to WalletHub.
The personal finance website compiled its 2026 list of Best States for Racial Equality in Education by looking at differences between Black and white students when it comes to test scores, college attainment and high school graduation rates.
The rankings are based on a weighted average of six metrics, but did WalletHub not provide a breakdown of each category.
However, statistics from the Center for the Future of Arizona support the idea that Arizona has work to do when it comes to racial equality. African American students in Arizona have an average college attainment rate of 38%, while white students have an average rate of 54%.
That difference is also evident in other education areas, with a gap of 11 percentage points between Black and white high schoolers in graduation rate.
WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo called the high school graduation rate the most “alarming” data set for the Arizona. He said if the study included the state’s large Hispanic population, the results might have been different.
“It would be interesting, if those numbers were included, where the gaps would be. Again, Arizona has a high Hispanic population, as [does] New Mexico, and New Mexico was at number three. So maybe Arizona could take a look at what their neighbors are doing there to kind of bridge those gaps,” he said.
How can Arizona increase racial equality in the classroom?
Lupo said Arizona can boost its ranking and improve racial equality in schools by increasing the representation and funding for public education.
“One thing [to] do is to build more diversity within the school system. More Black administrators and more Black teachers kind of create more of a familiarity for Black students and more mentors. … Increased funding and a more concerted effort to increase diversity among the school systems, I think, would go a long way in bridging that gap,” he said.
WalletHub ranked Wyoming, West Virginia and New Mexico as the best states for racial equality in the classroom, with New Jersey, Connecticut and Wisconsin at the bottom of the list.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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