When Sen. Catherine Miranda was 15-years-old, she saw her father, who was addicted to drugs and alcohol, hanging off the sidewalk into the street with his head bleeding, as she rode the city bus.
That experience, she notes, is not uncommon for other children in the state today, and not enough is being done for people living on the streets, as well as their families. But Sen. Miranda sought reelection this November to fix this issue.
Miranda was born and raised in Laveen, Arizona. and her goal is to help Arizona families and children find solutions addressing homelessness and education.
“There’s so many reasons why people are homeless,” Miranda said. “There’s a lot of times when my colleagues will say, ‘they need to get up and get a job,’ but addiction is a disease.”
In September 2024, Arizona was ranked the worst state for education overall, and second worst state for funding education in the nation, according to a report from Consumer Affairs.
Miranda experienced the public education system in Arizona firsthand as a teacher and administrator, and had no intentions of becoming a politician. In 2011, her husband, Ben Miranda, who was a state representative, encouraged her to run for office.
“When I connected the dots that every decision that we need made is made at the legislature, that’s when I realized I am going to have to get over there.” Miranda said. “No matter how much our principals or our school boards try to help, if the thumb is on us from the legislature, we are not going to move much.”
Although she served on the Arizona Senate’s Education Committee since 2023, Miranda was unhappy with some of the legislation that was approved as Democrats remained the minority among the committee.
Sen. Ken Bennett, the chair of the Arizona Senate’s Education Committee, who worked alongside Miranda from 2023-2024, applauded her ability to work outside of partisan lines, aiming for the benefit of the people of Phoenix.
“Among Democrats, she is perceived as one of the most willing to work across the aisle to whatever goal she is working on,” Bennett said.
Edited by Shi Bradley
