17 months before election, Steinborn holds fundraiser

In yet another sign that we’re in a state of perpetual election cycles, state Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, is holding a fundraiser on Saturday.

He’s up for re-election in November 2008.

The event is billed on the invitation as a “special reception” sponsored by a number of people, including former state Rep. J. Paul Taylor, Doña Ana County Commissioner Karen Perez and Don Kurtz, one of the organizers of the Quality Growth Alliance.

The invitation requests a $50-per-person donation to “talk with Jeff” and “enjoy good food and wine.” It will be held at a home on the west side of Las Cruces, outside Steinborn’s district, which includes parts of the north side of Las Cruces and runs along the west side of Interstate 25 to Radium Springs.

In his first six months in office, Steinborn has been an active representative who was one of about 10 elected officials who helped work out a compromise on reform of the state’s housing authority system during this year’s session. He was also recently named to the governor’s reconvened ethics task force.

Steinborn works for the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, which is currently campaigning for the creation of a number of wilderness areas in Doña Ana County. He’s also proposing a committee made up of legislators, city councilors and county commissioners to review local government development policies and try to rework them to give the public greater influence over the process.

The liberal conservationists who campaigned for Steinborn in 2006 were among the most passionate supporters of any House candidate. But the district he represents is fairly moderate and, knowing he’ll be one of the top targets of the GOP again in 2008, Steinborn has made an effort to reach out to moderate and conservative voters.

This year, the Legislature approved a Steinborn-sponsored memorial creating a legislative interim border affairs and security committee to consider a number of issues related to being a border state. He also sponsored a bill that would officially define terrorism and make it a crime in New Mexico. It passed the House unanimously and made its way though two Senate committees, but died because the full Senate never voted on it.

Steinborn knows he’ll have to keep reaching out to his district’s diverse voters if he wants to keep his seat. Following the retirement last year of former Rep. William “Ed” Boykin,” Steinborn had to spend more than $100,000 to defeat Republican Scott Witt by 309 votes and win the right to represent District 37.

He outspent Witt by about $50,000 to become the first Democrat to hold the seat in 14 years.

A prior version of this article failed to clarify that Steinborn’s terrorism bill passed two Senate committees.