Montoya, Néstor, 1862-1923

Néstor Montoya (April 14, 1862 – January 13, 1923) was an American newspaper editor and politician. He notably served as the U.S. Representative from New Mexico's at-large congressional district from 1921 to 1923. As an editor and politician, Néstor Montoya dedicated himself to the inclusion of Hispanics in the political and social life of New Mexico, and to the campaign for New Mexico statehood.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory, he attended public schools in Albuquerque and graduated in 1881 from St. Michael’s, a college preparatory academy in Santa Fe, after which he worked in a merchandising business for an uncle. Beginning in 1884, Montoya’s bilingualism enabled him to find a variety of federal positions. He worked as a clerk for the U.S. Postal Service for four years and for the U.S. Treasury in Santa Fe. He also worked as an interpreter for the First, Second, and Fourth Judicial Districts. Montoya began newspaper work in 1889 and owned and edited the Spanish paper called La bandera americana.

Montoya was member of the New Mexico Territorial House of Representatives from 1892 to 1903 and served as speaker in the latter year. He was a member of the New Mexico Territorial Senate in 1905 and 1906. He was president of the New Mexico Press Association from 1908 to 1923. He was a delegate to the convention that drafted and adopted the state Constitution of New Mexico in 1910 and a regent of the University of New Mexico from 1916 to 1919. He helped write provisions into the Constitution of New Mexico to protect the rights of Hispanics in the areas of education, voting, and civil liberties. Also, he was a member of the Council of National Defense from 1917 to 1919.

Montoya was the chairman of the Bernalillo County, New Mexico draft board during the First World War and clerk of Bernalillo County in 1919 and 1920. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1921 until his death in Washington, D.C. in 1923. While in Congress, Montoya served on the Indian Affairs Committee, and the Committee on Public Lands. The Republican Party did not renominate him for a second term and instead they nominated Adelina Otero-Warren; despite his loss, he campaigned for Otero-Warren's unsuccessful campaign. Two months before the end of his term, Montoya died in his Washington home. He was buried in Santa Barbara Cemetery in Albuquerque.