Samantha Montaño (born 1989/1990) is an American community organizer and politician who has served as a member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives from the15th Suffolk district since 2023.^[1] They are a member of theDemocratic Party.^[2]

Montaño is fromLos Angeles,California, and received abachelor's degree inanthropology from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. They are a member of theLGBTQ+ community, using she/they pronouns,^[3] and identify asLatinx andChicanx.^[4]

In 2022, Montaño ran for election to theMassachusetts House of Representatives in the15th Suffolk district. They won theDemocratic Party primary with 57.5% of the vote, and the general election with 98.8% of the vote.^[2] Montaño represents regions of the Boston neighborhoods ofRoxbury,Mission Hill, andJamaica Plain.^[5]

Prior to running for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2022, Montaño was involved in community organizing and advocacy inJamaica Plain^[3] and describes "deep roots" in the neighborhood.^[3] After moving to Jamaica Plain in 2015, Montaño ran for theJamaica Plain Neighborhood Council and won a seat representing Area B, the Easternmost region of the neighborhood.^[3][6] They eventually served as chair of the Council.^[3]

Significant work in Jamaica Plain prior to election also includes working as a resident organizer at theMildred C. Hailey housing project to establish a youth center. Montaño also served in the Impact Advisory Group atPine Street Inn, a homeless services provider.

Other work in the Boston area prior to their candidacy included working as Director of Organizing at GreenRoots, Inc, an environmental justice organization inChelsea, Massachusetts.^[4] They also served as a housing advocate with the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, a program officer with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and a guest advocate with theCrittenton Women's Union.^[2]

In 2024, Montaño became the executive director of theTransgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts,^[7] an organization that provides life-sustaining resources, including drop-in services and transitional housing support, totransgender people.^[8]

In November 2021, Massachusetts GovernorCharlie Baker signed into law a redistricting bill that would take effect in the 2022 election. While Jamaica Plain belonged to the10th and15th Suffolk districts from 2011-2021, the redistricting incorporated the entire neighborhood into the 15th Suffolk district.

Montaño ran for election to theMassachusetts House of Representatives in the15th Suffolk district. They won theDemocratic Party primary with 57.5% of the vote, defeating Roxanne Longoria, Richard Anthony Fierro, and May Ann Nelson.^[9] They won the general election as the sole candidate with 98.8% of the vote.^[2]

Montaño identifiedaffordable housing, tenant protections,racial justice, andenvironmental justice as priorities during their 2022 campaign.^[3]

Sam Montaño grew up in Los Angeles, California. They are a member of theLGBTQ+ community, using she/they pronouns,^[3] and identify asLatinx andChicanx.^[4]

Montaño was inspired by their personal history to work in housing justice, sharing in an op-ed that as a child, their family experienced housing instability due to their father's substance use disorder.^[10] They have stated that this experience directly influences their support for expanding substance use treatment services across Boston, including the proposedShattuck Hospital redevelopment project in Jamaica Plain.^[10]

• Living people
• 21st-century American women politicians
• Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• University of California, Los Angeles alumni
• Politicians from Los Angeles
• LGBTQ state legislators in Massachusetts
• Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Massachusetts
• American politicians of Mexican descent
• Women state legislators in Massachusetts
• 21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from June 2025
• Year of birth missing (living people)
• Year of birth uncertain