| Steve Montenegro | |
| Office: | Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives |
| Term Start: | January 13, 2025 |
| Predecessor: | Ben Toma |
| State House1: | Arizona |
| District1: | 29th |
| Alongside1: | James Taylor |
| Term Start1: | January 9, 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | Richard Andrade |
| State Senate2: | Arizona |
| District2: | 13th |
| Term Start2: | January 9, 2017 |
| Term End2: | December 15, 2017 |
| Predecessor2: | Don Shooter |
| Successor2: | Sine Kerr |
| State House3: | Arizona |
| District3: | 13th |
| Alongside3: | Darin Mitchell |
| Term Start3: | January 14, 2013 |
| Term End3: | January 9, 2017 |
| Predecessor3: | Martha Garcia |
| Successor3: | Don Shooter |
| State House4: | Arizona |
| District4: | 12th |
| Alongside4: | Jerry Weiers |
| Term Start4: | January 12, 2009 |
| Term End4: | January 14, 2013 |
| Predecessor4: | John B. Nelson |
| Successor4: | Warren Petersen |
| Birth Place: | El Salvador |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | Melissa |
| Children: | 1 |
| Education: | Logos University Arizona State University, Tempe (BS) |
| Signature: | Steve Montenegro Signature.png |
Steve Montenegro is a Salvadoran-American Republican politician from Litchfield Park, Arizona who is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, elected in 2022. He is a former member of the Arizona Senate. He was previously a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, from 2009 to 2017, where he was Speaker Pro Tempore.[1]
In 2014, Montenegro was chosen to serve as Majority Leader in the 2015–2017 session.[2] He resigned from the state senate on December 15, 2017 to focus on his congressional campaign. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, 2018.[3] In 2025, he became Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives.
Montenegro was born in El Salvador and at age four immigrated to the United States with his family. According to his official biography, he graduated magna cum laude from 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.[4]
Before his election to the state House, Montenegro was a district representative for Republican Congressman Trent Franks.[5]
Montenegro was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in November 2008, succeeding John B. Nelson.[6] He represents Legislative District 13 (the former District 12), which includes Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Avondale, and also Luke Air Force Base.
Montenegro was a Donald Trump delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[5] He was also a frequent defender of the President on national TV, where his status as a conservative Latino made him a popular foil for liberal hosts and guests like Jorge Ramos, Anna Navarro, Chris Cuomo, and Jake Tapper.[7]
He was the only Hispanic in the Arizona legislature to vote for the highly controversial Arizona SB 1070. 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."
In 2025, Montenegro was elected Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives.[8]
During the controversial 2021 audit, Montenegro was one of the people who had control over the combative and controversial “Audit War Room” Twitter account.[9] Montenegro has also appeared alongside Patrick Byrne, Michael Flynn, Jovan Hutton Pulitzer, and other election conspiracy theorists in his capacity as an executive with The America Project.[9]
In 2023, Montenegro filed a complaint alleging corruption in the Tempe Council race but withdrew his claims within 24 hours, the same day it was revealed through the public record disclosure of texts with CyberNinja's CEO Doug Logan that he had met privately with Logan while the audit was underway at a hotel in Scottsdale.[10]
Montenegro resigned his seat in the Arizona Senate in order to run full time for the Republican nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives in the special election in Arizona's 8th congressional district in 2018.[11] He had been endorsed by U.S. Representative Trent Franks (who held the seat until his resignation in 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct). He was also endorsed by former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.[12] During his campaign, Montenegro emphasized his support for President Donald Trump.[5]
During the campaign, it was revealed that he had received nude selfies and other sexual pictures from a female capitol staffer, although her attorney confirmed there was no physical relationship between the two.[3] The staffer reportedly sent multiple sexual pics of herself, including a topless photo, to which Montenegro requested she send them on Snapchat, which deletes photos immediately. Montenegro initially called the story "false tabloid trash", but when texts of the files were presented indicating not only his acceptance of the photos, but being an active participant in the sexting, he admitted to the story and denied only a few parts. He ultimately said, "I am confident the voters will see through these deplorable pack of lies thrown out by a liberal attorney with a clear agenda of attacking conservatives."[3]
He was subsequently defeated in the GOP primary by former AZ State Senator Debbie Lesko, who went on to defeat the Democratic nominee Hiral Tipirneni.[13]
He has served on the Advisory Board of the Arizona Charter Academy.[14]