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Opinion: Even blue-leaning Arizona border counties roared at the polls for Trump

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Opinion: Even blue-leaning Arizona border counties roared at the polls for Trump



Cochise, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties served as the front line of Biden and Harris’ border policies, and they didn’t like what they saw.

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As Arizona political junkies feverishly refresh their screens for the remaining votes to be counted, the early numbers reveal one reason Donald Trump is poised to win the state he lost four years ago.

Call it the revenge of the border counties.

Based on the count so far, Pima County didn’t change its voting pattern. In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Trump by 18 percentage points, and Kamala Harris appears to have maintained that lead with a 17 percent advantage as of Thursday morning.

Most of Pima County’s border with Mexico is part of the sparsely populated Tohono O’odham Nation. The vast majority of residents live well to the north, in and around Tucson.

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The story is much different in the three remaining border counties.

Trump gained, even in blue-leaning counties

Trump defeated Biden in Cochise County, located in the southeast corner of the state.

In 2020, the Republican received 58% of the vote, compared to the Democrat’s 39%. Despite Cochise County’s previous red leanings, Trump vastly improved his performance in 2024.

So far, Trump holds a massive 68%-31% lead over Harris.

Santa Cruz, with its county seat in Nogales, is a reliable Democratic stronghold. In 2020, Biden received a whopping 67% of the vote, with Trump garnering just 32%.

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This year brought a big change. Trump gained eight percentage points, with the vote total on Thursday standing at Harris 59%, Trump 40%. This is significant for a county in which 82% of residents are Latino.

That leaves the last border county, Yuma, in Arizona’s southwest corner. In the previous presidential election, Trump bested Biden 52% to 46%. This time, Trump had 65% on Thursday, compared to Harris’ 35%.

Biden-Harris’ border policies are likely to blame

What could account for the 10-point shift to Trump in Cochise County? The eight-point GOP gain in Santa Cruz? And finally, the 13-point red wave in Yuma County?

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Each served as the front line of Biden and Harris’ disastrous border policies.

While politicians bickered in Washington, undocumented migrants passed through these desert regions, disrupting the small communities and taxing their limited public services.

The numbers of migrants are truly staggering.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has divided our southern border into several sections, two of which cover Arizona. The Tucson Sector accounts for the border from the New Mexico state line to Yuma County.

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The Yuma Sector handles the 126 miles from the Pima county line to the Imperial Sand Dunes in California. The California portion of this sector has been fenced since the 1990s, dramatically reducing the encounters along their area.

Arizona border counties roared at the polls

Adding up the border crossings from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2024 demonstrates the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to provide basic security.

The Tucson Sector had 1,280,408 encounters. The Yuma Sector had 652,660 encounters.

Over Biden and Harris’ single term, Arizona’s four border counties had more than 1.9 million undocumented migrants pass through. When residents complained, the national media shrugged it off, often blaming racism, despite the high numbers of Latinos living there.

Of course, when a small number of migrants were flown to the elite enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts National Guard had them bused out within hours. The wealthy playground couldn’t tolerate the crushing influx of 50 uninvited guests.

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That’s for struggling border towns like Douglas, Nogales or Yuma to handle.

America has long welcomed immigrants, a fact demonstrated by our liberal naturalization laws. We want people to become citizens. But the unregulated entry of 1.9 million people into a single state alarms Americans of all backgrounds.

Tired of being ignored for years, Arizona’s border counties finally made their voices heard.

This time at the ballot box.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @exjon.

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What to Expect When Ole Miss Baseball Takes On Arizona State

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What to Expect When Ole Miss Baseball Takes On Arizona State


After the Ole Miss Rebels had a quick exit in the SEC tournament, they now look ahead to the Nebraska regional.

They will be taking on a solid Arizona State team on May 29th in the Lincoln Regional.

The Sun Devils finished their regular season 37-19 and went 19-11 in Big 12 conference games.

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What to Expect From Arizona State

ASU base runner Landon Hairston steals third base against the Cincinnati Bearcats during their Big 12 tournament | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Arizona is coming off some of its best baseball after it made it to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. The Sun Devils are led by Landon Hairston, who set a school record this year with 28 home runs. The sophomore outfielder also hit .413 on the year and was named the 2026 Big 12 player of the year.

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In addition, the State lineup includes six hitters who are hitting above .280. Four of those hitters are hitting well into the .300s. This team is a power-hitting team. They finished second in the Big 12 in home runs as a team with 108

The Rebels Ace Hunter Elliot will most likely get the nod for the Rebels against the Sun Devils and will need to bring his ace stuff against a talented Arizona State lineup.

Cole Carlon will most likely be on the bump for the Sun Devils. The Friday starter finished his 2026 regular campaign with a 3.51 ERA and was named to the Big 12 Conference’s first team.

Carlon has shown the ability to go deep into ball games. His best game this year was against Oklahoma State, where he went seven innings and gave up three runs.

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In his most recent start against West Virginia, Carlon went five and a third innings and allowed one run.  

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The Sun Devils start to get shaky when they get to their bullpen. Most of their guys have an ERA above five on the season. In Carlon’s best start against the Cowboys, he was given a no-decision because the Sun Devils bullpen gave up six runs to lose the game 9-6.

The Rebels will look for their lineup to get Carlon’s pitch count high earlier so they can face a Sun Devils bullpen that has struggled this year.

Ole Miss is led by just about the most experience a team could get. Head coach Mike Bianco has coached the Rebels for 24 years now and has seen it all. From national championships to shocking early exits. He will be able to get his team in the right mindset to take on a tough Arizona State baseball club.

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Arizona Diamondbacks News, 5/25: Memorial Day

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Arizona Diamondbacks News, 5/25: Memorial Day


Recaps [Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks do not mess around with Rockies to close 6-1 homestand – The Arizona Diamondbacks smacked seven extra-base hits, none of which left the yard, in an all-around dominant win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, 9-1. Ryne Nelson threw a career-high eight innings with one earned run, while the offense supplied […]



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Kavan’s shutout lifts Texas to win over Arizona State, back to WCWS

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Kavan’s shutout lifts Texas to win over Arizona State, back to WCWS


AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas will return to the Women’s College World Series to defend its national title.

The Longhorns capped a 2-1 series win in the super regional round over Arizona State with a 5-0 victory Sunday at McCombs Field. Katie Stewart drove in four runs, and Teagan Kavan hurled a complete-game shutout with five strikeouts.

AUSTIN, TX – APRIL 12: Texas Longhorns utility Katie Stewart (20) gets a hit during the SEC college softball game between Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners on April 12, 2026, at Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Austin Super Regional: No. 2 Texas 2, Arizona State 1

The win sends the second-seeded Longhorns back to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, where they claimed the program’s first national championship last season. They’ll face Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday in the double-elimination tournament.

It’s the ninth time the Longhorns have been to the WCWS.

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Texas bounced back from a 4-1 loss to open the best-of-3 series on Friday against the Sun Devils, claiming Saturday’s game 4-3 thanks to a pinch-hit 2-run home run in the seventh inning by Victoria Hunter.

Stewart provided the bulk of the offensive punch for the Longhorns, smacking a pair of 2-run singles in the third and sixth innings. Shortstop Vivi Martinez capped a 15-pitch at-bat against Sun Devils pitcher Kenzie Brown with an RBI triple in the fifth to score Kayden Henry. Martinez fouled off 11 pitches during the plate appearance, and then ripped a pitch down the first-base line that rolled all the way to the right-field wall, plating Henry to give Texas a 3-0 lead.

Martinez said she kept telling herself to win each pitch.

“I was just trying to keep it simple,” she said. “She has a great changeup, so I had to be aware of that.”

Kavan kept the Sun Devils off balance, forcing eight groundouts and eight flyouts to go with her strikeouts. She scattered five hits, allowing a 2-out triple to Yannixa Acuna in the fourth on a pop-up that dropped in shallow right field just out of Leighann Goode’s diving catch attempt. With the outfield heavily shifted the opposite way, the ball squirted into foul territory, allowing the speedy Acuna to scamper to third.

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After Kavan walked Brooklyn Ulrich, she got Tiare Ho-Ching to ground out to end the inning, escaping the jam unscathed.

“Teagan was lights out. She showed the mindset of a warrior,” Longhorns head coach Mike White said. “The ability to put things that don’t go her way aside, and come out and compete for her team. She loves her team.”

Texas (47-11) was 7-for-19 with runners on and 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Arizona State didn’t have a hit with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-5. Both of Stewart’s 2-run singles came with two outs.

Stewart, Henry and Martinez all had two hits for the Longhorns. Acuna had two hits for the Sun Devils.

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