Preceded by John B. Nelson Name Steve Montenegro Political party Republican Role Politician | Spouse(s) Melissa Children Adelynn Party Republican Party | |
![Steve Montenegro Todd And Steve Montenegro Arizona Lobbying](https://alchetron.com/cdn/steve-montenegro-27b21db3-487c-4ae6-9076-7ff2a7ec281-resize-750.jpeg; name="todd and steve montenegro.jpg") | ||
Alma mater Arizona State University Website Official websiteOther website Residence Litchfield Park, Arizona, United States | ||
Education Arizona State University | ||
Jorge Ramos debates Joe Arpaio pardon with Arizona state senator
Steve Montenegro is an Salvadoran-American Republican politician from Litchfield Park, Arizona who is currently a member of the Arizona Senate. He was previously a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, where he was Speaker Pro Tempore.
Contents
- Jorge Ramos debates Joe Arpaio pardon with Arizona state senator
- Early life
- Political career
- Personal life
- Elections
- References
In 2014, Montenegro was chosen to serve as Majority Leader in the 2015-2017 session. He is running for Secretary of State of Arizona in the 2018 election.
Early life
Montenegro was born in El Salvador and at age four immigrated to the United States with his family. 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.
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.
Political career
Montenegro was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in November 2008. He represents Legislative District 13 (the former District 12), which includes Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Avondale and also Luke Air Force Base.
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."
On March 30, 2017, Montenegro announced that he was running for Secretary of State of Arizona against Republican incumbent Michele Reagan in 2018.
Personal life
Steve also serves as Associate Pastor at the Surprise Apostolic Assembly. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Arizona Charter Academy.