Montenegro resigns Senate seat to concentrate on run for Congress

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To give his full attention to a congressional run, Sen. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, submitted his resignation from the state Senate today, triggering the appointment process for his seat in Legislative District 13.

In a letter sent to Senate President Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, Montenegro wrote that he would be resigning from his seat effective today.

“It has been a great honor to serve as a legislator over the years in company with my distinguished colleagues, but I have been called to a mission that will require my undivided attention and my district deserves a full-time legislator,” Montenegro wrote.

On Monday, the 36-year-old lawmaker announced his candidacy for Congressional District 8 after former-Rep. Trent Franks resigned on Dec. 8 amid an ethics investigation into comments made to two female staffers regarding surrogacy.

A primary election in CD8 will be held on February 27, and candidates must submit their nominating petitions for the race by January 10. Though it’s unclear if the special election would require sitting legislators to resign to run for the congressional seat, Montenegro said at the time of his campaign announcement that he would resign to focus on the election.

The resignation has triggered the appointment process for his seat in LD13. Two candidates, Brent Backus and Trey Terry, have already filed to run for the LD13 Senate seat. Rep. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, is also running for the seat, but is ineligible for the appointment because he’s not from Maricopa County.

Both Terry and Backus said they will put their names forward as candidates for the appointment to Montenegro’s seat.

The LD13 precinct committee has 21 days to submit the names of three candidates to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who will then make an appointment to fill the vacancy.

Yellow Sheet Report Editor Jeremy Duda contributed to this report.