Arizona House Republicans choose Montenegro as new speaker
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Arizona House Republicans opted for a veteran lawmaker to lead their caucus for the next two years over a member of the Freedom Caucus and the second-in-command of their current leadership team.
Why it matters: The House speaker and Senate president control key committee appointments, decide which bills get voted on and lead negotiations for their caucuses with the governor.
State of play: Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, won the speakership in a closed-door vote Tuesday. He defeated Rep. Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City, who's the current House majority leader, and Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus.
- Montenegro replaces outgoing Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale.
1 big milestone: Montenegro will be the first Latino Arizona House speaker.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans gave Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, a second term as the chamber's president.
Zoom in: Montenegro served in the Legislature from 2009-2018, and was elected back to the House in 2022.
- He is conservative and likely wouldn't differ much from Chaplik in terms of which bills get a vote, longtime politico and public relations consultant Barrett Marson told Axios.
- The big difference will be style, not policy, said Marson, who described Montenegro as a consistent choice who will run the House largely as it's been for years.
Yes, but: Longtime lobbyist Stan Barnes warned against reading too much into the election and said Montenegro won on a combination of factors.
- "There's a lot of dynamics that go into it and kind of … the hot politics of the moment is just one of those dynamics," he told Axios.
The intrigue: After several years of one-vote Republican majorities in the House and Senate, Montenegro and Petersen will have more room to maneuver after the GOP picked up seats in both chambers.
- If the current leads hold, Republicans will have 17 seats in the Senate and 33 in the House.
The other side: House Democrats selected Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen Village, as their new minority leader, Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, will lead Senate Democrats.