One year ago today, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Arizona State Senator Steve Montenegro, just elected to serve District #13 in that body after spending 2009-2016 working in the Arizona House of Representatives. He is a rarity among Republicans… Montenegro isn’t just a Latino Republican… he’s actually an immigrant from El Salvador. And, that made him an interesting individual to watch during the debate over Arizona’s SB 1070 a few years ago, where he voted in favor of it, and argued that a law which allowed Arizona law enforcement to racially profile suspects and detain individuals based on their own judgment if they were suspected of being an illegal immigrant wasn’t racist, in its premise. In fact, Montenegro lamented that most of SB 1070 was overturned by the courts, and still insisted that it was meant to “target coyotes”.
Now, where things are getting even more interesting is that Montenegro is a is the son of a Pentacostal minister, and is ordained himself. But after he supported SB 1070, a local Christian AM radio station began to get phone calls from the Montenegro’s church, saying that they were illegal immigrants who went there, and that they had donated money towards Montenegro’s college. Montenegro, of course, claims it was “scholarships, loans, and help from his family”. Either way, a lot of the Hispanic community accuse him of being a sellout.
When you factor in his background in ministry, and that he once served as an intern to the quite bats*** Evangelical Arizona Congressman Trent Franks, it should come as little surprise that he’s other full blown GOP theocrat. Sure, he might have been provoked when an atheist colleague gave a “prayer” to open up a session in the state legislature by thanking Carl Sagan and so on, but to literally respond by freaking out and changing the rules so that prayers within the legislature MUST mention God? Yeah, that’s a thing. And it’s only part of a sign that Montenegro isn’t so keen on the whole separation of church and state. He’s also sponsored bills so that the clergy can turn away gay couples, sponsored a “religious freedom” law so that Arizona businesses could discriminate against the LGBT community, and even tried working to prevent same sex couples from adopting children. Because heaven forbid they end up in a loving home if it’s not with straight people.
Even more concerning to us is that Montenegro also changed rules for the media covering the Arizona state legislature, forcing the entire pool of reporters to first undergo background checks before having access to the legislature. When the media cleared their background checks and got to ask him why the hell he did it, he effectively played dumb and pretended he didn’t know the reason for the policy change.
Montenegro also co-sponsored SB 1433, a bill aimed at trying to justify why Arizona should be allowed to nullify federal law, bills to have elective courses about the Bible taught in public high schools, voted for a bill to allow Arizona employers to refuse to provide health insurance coverage for employees’ contraception. Because of course he also hates birth control, a bill which would allow law enforcement to make unannounced inspections of abortion facilities, as Arizona Republicans’ bonkers bill to have citizens start regarding gold and silver as legal tender.
Steve Montenegro took a chance in the 2018 elections, and rather than run for re-election to the State Senate, he opted to run for Arizona Secretary of State, instead. That’s not the worst idea, considering the current office holder, Michelle Reagan blamed long lines in the 2016 Arizona Primary on… the voters! As in the voters who will get to vote on her getting a new four year term in 2018 or not.
And, as it turns out, Montenegro chose poorly, and lost in the GOP Primary for Arizona Secretary of State, and then in desperation, he tried running for the seat in Congress vacated by his old mentor, Trent Franks, after Franks tried adapting the Handmaid’s Tale to real life and got exposed by the #MeToo movement. Montenegro finished third out of twelve possible candidates in the GOP Primary, well behind the winner, Debbie Lesko, meaning he’ll be out of office… any office, come January. And to that, we can only say… “Good riddance.”
One Year Ago, July 22nd, 2017: Steve Montenegro (AZ)… Original Profile
Two Years Ago, July 22nd, 2016: Scott Jones (CA)
Three Years Ago, July 22nd, 2015: Joe Walsh (IL)… 2015 Update
Four Years Ago, July 22nd, 2014: Joe Walsh (IL)… Original Profile