Joseph Montoya: Elected at 21 While at Georgetown Law, Then Watergate

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Joseph Manuel Montoya was born on September 24, 1915, in Peña Blanca, New Mexico, to Roman Catholic parents descended from 18th century Spanish settlers. He graduated from Bernalillo High School in 1931, attended Regis College in Denver, and in 1934 moved to Washington, D.C., to study at Georgetown Law. In 1936, at 21 and still a law student, he became the youngest person ever elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives, won reelection before finishing his degree in 1938, and was Democratic majority floor leader by 1939. He then became the youngest member ever elected to the New Mexico Senate, rising to majority whip and Judiciary Committee chairman, and served three terms as lieutenant governor between 1947 and 1957.

The death of Congressman Antonio M. Fernandez opened a House seat in a 1957 special election, and Montoya served in the U.S. House until 1964, earning a reputation as a moderate, diligent legislator on the Appropriations Committee. After Senator Dennis Chavez died, Governor Edwin L. Mechem resigned so his successor could appoint Mechem to the vacant seat, and Montoya defeated him in 1964. In the Senate he served on Appropriations, Public Works, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy and the Senate Watergate Committee. In 1976, a strong year for Democrats nationally, Republican Harrison Schmitt beat him 57 to 42 percent after 40 years of continuous officeholding. He died in Washington on June 5, 1978, at 62.

• He campaigned for the New Mexico House from Washington while studying law, relying on his family's established network back home.
• He alternated between the state senate and the lieutenant governor's office for two decades before moving to Congress.
• In the House he defeated Republican Jack C. Redmond in 1962 and secured a seat on the Appropriations Committee in 1963.
• He authored the Vocational Education Act and sponsored the Wilderness Act of 1964.
• His Senate tenure ran from 1964 to 1977, with no scandal cited in his decisive 1976 defeat.