Steve Montenegro is not new to the Capitol — he served eight years in the Legislature before an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2018. In 2022, he returned to state politics when he was elected to represent Legislative District 29 along with fellow Republican Austin Smith.

At the end of last year, Republicans elected Montenegro as the new speaker of the House of Representatives for the next session.

A native of El Salvador, Montenegro is the first Latino to lead the 60-member House. He won the seat after serving just two years, which sets him up for a chance to serve as speaker for three consecutive terms — a rarity in the fast-moving world of legislative term limits and politics.

This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with Montenegro at the beginning of his term as speaker.

Together they discuss how his immigration background influences him, unifying the Republican party in Arizona, and his approach for working with Hobbs.

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