By JOSH BOAK

CHICAGO (AP) — Convention roll call votes can be staid and cheesy, but Democrats turned theirs into the ultimate dance party on Tuesday.

DJ Cassidy stood onstage in what appeared to be a double-breasted satin suit of royal blue, spinning a special song for each state and territory awarding their delegates to Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention. What America got was a mashup of an elite karaoke night: Detroit native Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” for Michigan, Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” for Massachusetts and Tupac Shakur’s “California Love” for California.

Georgia brought out one of its natives in person: Atlanta’s Lil Jon striding through Chicago’s United Center to the beats of “Turn Down for What,” his song with DJ Snake.

DJ Cassidy speaks during Roll Call at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

In short, Democrats were determined to put the party in political party, part of their broader effort to project joy and positive energy even as they issue dire warnings about the need to beat Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The party last used a video roll call during the pandemic -restricted 2020 convention that famously had Rhode Island featuring its state dish, calamari, creating the pressure to do something bigger this year. (The chef holding that iconic tray of calamari later turned out to be a Trump supporter.)

This year’s roll call vote featured the party’s emerging political stars like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Movie director Spike Lee was there for New York, while the actor Sean Astin, who starred in the Notre Dame-set football movie “Rudy,” was with the Indiana delegation.

Ohio casts their votes for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The musical choices were something of a risk. The 1996 Democratic convention in Chicago infamously featured delegates gyrating awkwardly to “Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)” by the Spanish pop duo Los del Río. Video of the Macarena still circulates among political diehards nearly three decades later.

Florida’s delegation played Tom Petty’s anthem to hard-headedness, “I Won’t Back Down,” in casting its delegates for Harris — a not-too-subtle jab at the state’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Petty was born in the Florida city of Gainesville. DeSantis used the song as the theme of his failed Republican presidential primary this cycle, and it was part of the name of a super PAC that spent lavishly in his losing cause.

“Florida is worth fighting for,” state Democratic chairwoman Nikki Fried declared, arguing that her state is worth national Democrats campaigning for despite it moving hard to the right and likely to go for Trump in November.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2024. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Alabama, obviously, got “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Alaska announced their backing of Vice President Kamala Harris to “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man, a band from Wasilla, where Republican Sarah Palin was once mayor.

Minnesota went with “1999” by Paisley Park’s own Prince. Indiana, with Astin by the microphone, went with Gary native Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough.” Nevada played “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, the synth pop band from Las Vegas. Kansas went with “Carry On My Wayward Son” by the rock band Kansas. New Jersey went with Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”

“Under one groove nothing can stop us now,” DJ Cassidy said over Springsteen’s anthem.

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Despite the festive mood, the roll call announcements did contain some serious moments. Texas’ Kate Cox had her request for an abortion during a troubled pregnancy rejected by that state’s supreme court, forcing her to go to another state for the procedure. But Cox announced on the floor that she was again pregnant and the baby was due in January.

Under Democratic Party rules, only Harris garnered enough signatures to be entered into nomination. Votes for any other person or uncommitted votes were tallied as “present” during the virtual roll call earlier this month. Tuesday night’s “celebratory” vote is following that earlier roll call’s vote total.

The predominant story in the Twins’ organization this season has been the rapid rise through the system of starting pitchers.

On the heels of David Festa and Zebby Matthews joining the Twins this season, right-hander Andrew Morris has climbed from Class-A Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita to the Saints this season, and has shown the same type of promise that led to Festa and Matthews reaching the big leagues.

The 22-year-old Morris, a fourth-round draft pick by the Twins out of Texas Tech in 2022, is a combined 17-6 with an earned-run average of 2.46 since turning professional. He’ll make his third start for the Saints on Saturday, with the first two leading to no decisions.

A newlywed in March, Morris said it has been a pretty good year to date.

“Just trying to get better each week out,” Morris said of his approach this season. “It’s been a fun year development-wise and figuring out who I am as a pitcher.”

Morris’ repertoire includes a change-up, curveball, slider, cutter and a fastball that he says tops out at 98 miles per hour.  He considers the fastball to be his best pitch. Overall, he has registered 111 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings this season.

Morris said he has been encouraged by seeing the other pitchers move their way up through the system. Left-hander Christian MacLeod also was promoted to the Saints earlier this month after beginning the season in High Class-A, but he has since been returned to Wichita.

“I’ve been kind of chasing Zebby everywhere all year,” Morris said. “That was awesome to see him get up there and make his first start against the Royals and strike out Bobby Witt. But yeah, we’ve come up together, and I definitely think that could be me.

“But we’ve got some work to do, obviously.”

Morris will be looking for a bit of a bounce back after allowing three runs in three innings in his last start against Indianapolis. He also gave up four walks.

“Any kind of failure I think is such a good learning experience,” he said. “That is the closest thing I’ve seen to a big-league lineup in my career. I have to be better than walking four dudes.”

Morris was born on September 1, 2001, in New York but his family moved to Oregon when he was an infant. He also spent some time in Alaska before the family settled in Colorado. He pitched one season for Texas Tech after spending three years at Colorado Mesa University.

The Saints are hosting the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A team of the New York Yankees, at CHS Field this week, and Morris said he grew up a Yankees fan. His dream of one day playing for them lasted until the day he was drafted by the Twins.

“Obviously, super pumped to be here,” Morris said.

The Saints entered Tuesday night’s game looking to snap a nine-game losing streak, but things unraveled early. They trailed 9-0 before DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning.

The Saints trailed 9-3 in the top of the eighth inning when this edition of the Pioneer Press went to press.

The RailRiders scored four runs against Saints starter Aaron Rozek in the first inning, which included a two-run home run. The RailRiders added single runs off of Rozek in the second and third.

Briefly

Louie Varland (4-8) starts Game 2 of the series for the Saints on Wednesday.

The Saints’ franchise record for consecutive losses is 11, set from May 8-20 in 2022.

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SAN DIEGO — The Twins are moving closer to getting both star shortstop Carlos Correa and standout center fielder Byron Buxton back from the injured list, though they haven’t publicly laid out timelines for either player.

Head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta did not rule out a Friday return for Buxton, who is on the IL with hip inflammation, but he said they will need to assess Buxton on Thursday’s off day before knowing if that might be possible. A potential rehab assignment for Buxton, Paparesta said, would be at his discretion.

“He has been hitting in the cage, throwing, doing outfield work,” Paparesta said. “Things are going well, progressing along nicely.”

Buxton’s magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound came back clean, and the Twins were holding out hope that he could come on the current road trip before eventually placing him on the injured list on Aug. 15. Buxton received a cortisone shot, and Paparesta previously said they believed that this might be some scar tissue from a previous issue that started causing this inflammation.

Correa, meanwhile, has been out since before the all-star break with plantar fasciitis but has been hitting, throwing and taking groundballs, as well as running.

“We’re just kind of in a little bit of a pain management situation with Carlos, trying to make sure that we can keep him comfortable, see how each day goes,” Paparesta said.

Paparesta said Correa stated that he felt better running on Tuesday than he had even a couple of days ago. Correa has not run the bases yet and is still reporting feeling discomfort in his right foot.

“As cliché as it sounds, it’s truly day to day on how he’s going to do and what we can do with him,” Paparesta said.

In other injury news, infielder Brooks Lee, sidelined with biceps tendinitis, has been throwing pain-free and has been hitting from both sides of the plate. Due to recent concerts at Target Field, Paparesta said they haven’t been able to get him out on the field at home, but the Twins plan on having him head over to St. Paul to work out with the Saints on Thursday.

Alex Kirilloff, out since June 13 with a back injury, was about to go on a rehab assignment last week before he sprained his ankle doing a change-of-direction drill. He will run the bases in the next couple of days.

“He has been able to swing and do his activities that he’s been needing to do,” Paparesta said. “He should be heading out soon.”

Reliever Kody Funderburk is finishing up his long toss program, and the Twins hope to get him off the mound this weekend when they get home, while fellow reliever Justin Topa is on hold because of elbow inflammation.

Lastly, starting pitcher Chris Paddack is also on hold from throwing until he gets magnetic resonance imaging done on Tuesday and Dr. Keith Meister, who performed his Tommy John surgery a couple of years ago, takes a look at it and clears him. Paddack has been on the injured list for a month with a forearm strain.

There was a particular stretch last week that perfectly encapsulated the summer receiver Trishton Jackson has had. After hauling in a touchdown reception during joint practices between the Vikings and Cleveland Browns, Jackson celebrated with his teammates in the end zone. Then he had some fun with a fan who had been trash-talking him on the sideline.

The exchange made superstar receiver Justin Jefferson laugh.

“That’s always,” Jefferson said. “That’s no surprise.”

It was no surprise, because Jackson loves to trash talk. It was also no surprise because Jackson has lived in the end zone throughout training camp at TCO Performance Center.

“I love it,” Jefferson said. “He’s making tremendous plays for us.”

Indeed. You’d struggle to find somebody on the Vikings who has performed better than Jackson over the past few weeks.

Whether it was his long touchdown reception in the preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders where he beat his defender deep, or his short touchdown reception in the preseason game against the Browns where he showcased tremendous body control to keep his feet in bounds, Jackson clearly has an incredible feel for how to play the position.

All of it should be enough for Jackson to make the team, regardless of what happens this weekend in the preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Just don’t tell him that. He’s trying not to think about the roster bubble.

“I can only control what I can control,” Jackson said. “Just trying to go out there with a good mindset every day and have fun with it.”

Tonyan returns to practice

After missing the past few weeks with back spasms, veteran tight end Robert Tonyan was at practice on Tuesday afternoon. He was a limited participant. He partook in most of the individual drills before watching team drills from the sideline.

Though it’s a good sign that Tonyan is back in the mix, he might have an uphill climb to make the team as fellow tight end Nick Muse has performed well in his absence.

That’s a significant change, as Tonyan was seemingly in position to make the team without much question after performing so well in organized team activities.

Reichard continues his excellence

It’s hard to crown rookie kicker Will Reichard before he lines up for a field-goal attempt that actually matters. That said, Reichard has done more than enough in training camp for the fan base to feel excited about him.

To this point in his career, Reichard has been nearly automatic, with his only notable miss coming against the Raiders when nearly half the offensive line fell down after the ball was snapped.

Maybe his most impressive showing to date came on Tuesday afternoon as he closed out practice by going 8 for 8 on field-goal attempts.

Briefly

There was no sign of receiver Jordan Addison at practice as he continues to recover from an ankle injury he suffered last week.

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