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No endorsement

The district

Legislative District 11 covers South Phoenix and Guadalupe. Its partisan baseline is Democratic +39.8 in the 2024 presidential vote — one of the most Democratic districts in the state. Three seats are at stake: one state Senate seat and two state House seats, with voters choosing two House members on a vote-for-two ballot.

All three Democratic incumbents are seeking re-election. The Senate incumbent is Catherine Miranda. The House incumbents are Oscar De Los Santos, the House minority leader, and Junelle Cavero. Republicans field a full slate: a Senate nominee and two House nominees.

The Senate race

Catherine Miranda (D), incumbent. Miranda is serving her fourth non-consecutive term in this file's accounting. In 2024 she won re-election 72.2%–27.8% over Joshua Ayala. She was renominated with 12,905 primary votes.

Her best honest case: she is an experienced incumbent in a district that votes overwhelmingly Democratic, she won her last general election by more than 44 points, and her constituents have repeatedly returned her to the Senate.

Pros: Long service, a decisive 2024 win, and renomination in a district aligned with her party. Cons: She is a party-line Democrat. No documented break with her party toward this publication's values — no Manchin-test break — was located. In the Senate, a Democrat's organizing vote is heavy: it controls confirmations and the judicial pipeline. The flaw, plainly: Enabler class, not extremist — a reliable party-line vote, which is the standing reason the exception for a Democrat is not earned here.

Joshua Ayala (R). Ayala, a business executive, is the Republican nominee in a rematch of 2024. He was nominated with 3,435 primary votes after losing the 2024 general election 27.8%–72.2%.

His best honest case: he is willing to run, twice, in a D+39.8 district where Republicans rarely contest seriously, giving voters who want a conservative alternative an actual choice.

Pros: A tested repeat nominee aligned with this publication's values on the Constitution, the free market, and freedom. Cons: His record at this level is thin — he has not held this office, and the compiled record contains no legislative service to judge. Unproven is a watch-closely posture, not a demerit. The district baseline makes the path steep: he lost by more than 44 points in 2024. The flaw, plainly: None proven was located in the compiled record. What is missing is a record, not a flaw — and in a Senate race against an entrenched party-line incumbent, an unproven challenger in a D+39.8 district does not meet our endorsement diligence bar on this file.

The House race

Oscar De Los Santos (D), incumbent and House minority leader, and Junelle Cavero (D), incumbent, were both renominated, with 11,424 and 10,446 primary votes respectively.

Their best honest case: De Los Santos leads his caucus in the House, both incumbents were renominated, and the district votes heavily Democratic.

Pros (both): Incumbency and, in De Los Santos's case, a caucus leadership role showing his colleagues' confidence. Cons (both): Party-line Democrats with no Manchin-test break located. Caucus math is lighter in the House than in the Senate — a stalled House is not a lost House — but that lighter weight helps a Democrat only against a flawed Republican, and no such comparison earns a call here. The flaw, plainly: Enabler class, not extremist, for both.

Joseph Charles Dailey (R) (2,946 primary votes) and Cesar Aleman (R) (2,574) are the Republican nominees.

Pros (both): They give the district a full Republican slate for two seats in a district the party often leaves uncontested. Cons (both): No legislative record was compiled for either nominee at this sourcing depth; both are unproven at this level, which is not a demerit but leaves endorsement diligence unmet on this file. The flaw, plainly: None proven was located for either nominee; the record is insufficient to endorse.

OUR CALL

Senate — NO endorsement. Miranda is a party-line Democratic incumbent with no Manchin-test break located, and her organizing vote carries heavy Senate weight. Ayala is a credible repeat challenger, but on a thin, unproven record in a D+39.8 district he does not clear our bar for an endorsement. Neither earns the call.

House — NO endorsement. The Democratic incumbents are enabler-class party-line votes with no exception earned, and the Republican nominees' records are insufficient in the compiled file to endorse. Caucus math being lighter in the House does not by itself create an endorsement.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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