Republican congressional candidate Steve Montenegro, who is running to replace disgraced Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, is facing his own scandal a week before next Tuesday’s primary.Montenegro, who resigned his state Senate seat to run for the House post, received topless photos from a legislative staffer, according to a series of text messages that were reviewed and reported by KPNX in Phoenix.The messages show Montenegro was worried about being brought down by a harassment scandal similar to the one that led to Franks’ resignation.“You would never have to worry about me,” the staffer responds. “So I hope that puts you at some ease. I just saw the Trent Franks thing.”In response, Montenegro says “crazy,” and the staffer replies “LOL Who needs it.”Watch: Candidates to Watch in Arizona’s Special Election Primaries[jwp-video n="1"]In one of the messages, Montenegro suggests the staffer use messaging app Snapchat, which deletes photos shortly after being received.After the staffer sent a photo of her posing topless in a bathroom, she says, “You have to delete these.” Montenegro then writes “Snap” in reference to Snapchat.Montenegro, who is married and a minister, called the report “tabloid trash.”[Trent Franks Still a Factor in Arizona Race to Replace Him]In a Facebook post, Montenegro said that he was targeted because he is a conservative and that the media wanted to wanted to destroy his campaign with a week left before the primary.“As a Hispanic conservative I knew they would stop at nothing to prevent me from going to Washington DC and fighting for the working families of our district just like I fought for the people at the State Capitol,” he wrote.
