Steve Montenegro

Steve Montenegro is an American politician from Litchfield Park, Arizona who has served as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives since January 2003. He is a Hispanic Republican politician and current Speaker Pro Tempore. He was first elected in 2008.
In 2014, Montenegro was chosen to serve as Majority Leader in the 2015-2017 session.

Representative Montenegro was born in El Salvador and at age four immigrated to the United States with his family. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Arizona State University with a B.S. in Political Science. He also holds an Associate of Arts in Theology from CBAN and Logos Christian University. Steve currently works in the district office of U.S. Congressman Trent Franks, where he assists with issues concerning the state department, immigration matters, and other federal issues that affect the west valley residents and businesses.

Steve Montenegro was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in November 2008. He represents Legislative District 12 (soon to be called District 13 after the new district lines are approved), which includes Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Avondale and also Luke Air Force Base. Steve is currently serving as Speaker Pro-Tempore (the #4 ranking Republican) and sits on the Government, Higher Education Innovation and Reform, and Rules committees. He is passionate about job creation, education issues, government transparency, protecting Second Amendment rights, and fiscal responsibility. Since his election, he has won awards as a “Friend of the Family”, “Friend of the Taxpayer”, and "Conservative Hero" from the Arizona Liberty Project. He has consistently been recognized as a defender of religious freedom. In 2014 he introduced legislation that would ensure that clergy do not have to perform a marriage that violates their religious beliefs.

He was the only Hispanic in the Arizona legislature to vote for the highly controversial Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. In response to accusations of racial profiling of Hispanics, he replied by saying that "This bill has nothing to do with race or profiling. It has to do with the law. We are seeing a lot of crime here in Arizona because of the open borders that we have."

Steve also serves as Associate Pastor at the Surprise Apostolic Assembly. His faith and his family are core pillars to his purpose. He strongly believes that our children are our future and he has made working with youth a priority in his life. He travels the country speaking at youth conferences, camps, and events through his work with his church and the Messengers of Peace. Steve has worked as a teacher[4] and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Arizona Charter Academy. His focus there has been providing counseling and guidance to young people and those in need.

• 2016 Term limited and with incumbent Don Shooter running for the house instead Montenegro ran for the Arizona senate, defeating Diane Landis in the Republican Primary and was unopposed in the general election.
• 2014 Montenegro and Darin Mitchell defeated Diane Landis in the Republican primary. Mitchell and Montenegro defeated Steve Hansen in the general election.
• 2012 Redistricted to District 13, Montenegro ran in the three-way August 28, 2012 Republican Primary; Montenegro placed first, Darin Mitchell placed second with 8,572 votes, and Representative Russ Jones who was redistricted from District 24, placed third; Montenegro won the first seat in the November 6, 2012 General election.

• "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2016 General Election November 8, 2016" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 15. Retrieved December 9, 2016. 
• "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2014 General Election November 4, 2014" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 9. Retrieved March 18, 2016. 
• "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2012 Primary Election August 28, 2012" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013. 
• "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2012 General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.