Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
What to know about the race to replace the late Arizona House Democrat
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.
Scripps News
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.
In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.
We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.
Cardinals 4-round mock draft
Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.
- Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
- Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
- Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
- Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber
What we think of the picks
The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.
Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.
Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.
Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.
Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State
Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.
Concern level 0/10
There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.
His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.
He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
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