Steve Montenegro is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 29. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. His current term ends on January 11, 2027. On November 12, 2024, Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives selected Montenego to be speaker of the House. Montenegro was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States. He has a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in political science and an associate degree in theology. His has served as pastor at Catalyst Church and worked as executive director of Desert Reach, a nonprofit, and as a principal at Coronam Consulting, a government affairs firm. After redistricting, Montenegro ran to represent the House District 13, winning election to that seat twice and serving as House Majority Leader from 2015-2016. In 2016, he declared his candidacy for the state senate, where he ran unopposed in the general election for Senate District 13. In 2018, he resigned from the Arizona Senate to run in the special election to represent Arizona's 8th Congressional District. Montenegro said he ran for the seat because former congressman Trent Franks, whose resignation created the open seat, asked him to do so. He campaigned on support for President Donald Trump's agenda and received endorsements from Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, and Joe Arpaio. On February 22, five days before the Republican primary, Montenegro admitted to exchanging sexually explicit text messages with a staffer. He finished third in the primary with 23.7% of the vote.
