{"id":37353,"date":"2012-02-28T17:25:17","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T00:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=37353"},"modified":"2012-02-29T09:55:42","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T16:55:42","slug":"steinborn-to-challenge-lujan-in-democratic-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/02\/steinborn-to-challenge-lujan-in-democratic-primary\/","title":{"rendered":"Steinborn to challenge Lujan in Dem primary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Former<\/a>

Former State Rep. Jeff Steinborn, left, and Rep. Antonio Lujan<\/p><\/div>\n

With Las Cruces-region redistricting likely finalized, some 38 percent of the area Steinborn used to represent is now in District 35, while redistricting kept 25 percent of the area Lujan has been representing in the district.<\/h4>\n

Former State Rep. Jeff Steinborn<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, announced today that he\u2019s running for the seat currently held by a one-time Democratic House colleague, Antonio Lujan<\/a>, who announced his own re-election plans last week.<\/p>\n

Steinborn\u2019s attempt to unseat Lujan in this year\u2019s Democratic primary is certain to upset some party insiders. The race will likely be one of the most hotly contested legislative primaries in the state.<\/p>\n

Steinborn used to represent District 37 on the northeastern edge of Las Cruces, but he lost the seat in 2010. This year\u2019s redistricting appears to be moving him into Lujan\u2019s inner-city District 35. Though redistricting is still up in the air, the maps currently being considered affect the Las Cruces area the same way, so most think the district boundaries in this area are set.<\/p>\n

Steinborn said in a news release that 38 percent of the district he once represented is now in District 35, while redistricting kept only 25 percent of the area Lujan has been representing in the district. His news release didn\u2019t mention Lujan and, in an interview, Steinborn said he wasn\u2019t sure if Lujan was seeking re-election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running for the state of New Mexico, and not against Antonio,\u201d Steinborn said. \u201cI think anytime voters have multiple choices, good for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Lujan announced his re-election campaign last week<\/a>, saying he was committed to the race regardless of how redistricting turned out. In an interview today, Lujan said he has no hard feelings against Steinborn, who informed him during the recent legislative session that he might run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just told him, Jeff, if you want to run, feel free to do so. It\u2019s nothing personal,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cI don\u2019t have any problems with opposition, and we\u2019ll see who the people choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he asked Steinborn to commit to a positive campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t commit to it, but if it doesn\u2019t stay positive then there\u2019s going to be some blood on the ground,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to go that route. I\u2019ve never run a negative campaign. I know how to do them, but that\u2019s not my preference or my style.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steinborn file<\/h3>\n

Steinborn, who first won election in 2006 by unseating longtime House Republican Ed Boykin<\/a>, was defeated by Republican Terry McMillan<\/a> during the conservative wave of 2010 by fewer than 400 votes, 51 percent to 49 percent. In spite of that, Steinborn has a reputation as a hard-working campaigner who knows how to reach voters.<\/p>\n

Steinborn has had the support of conservation and other groups in the past and raised more money than most legislative candidates for his campaigns. He said he doesn\u2019t expect as much support this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of groups that will support an incumbent simply because that\u2019s their policy, and I fully expect that some of the groups that used to support me, at least in name, will support an incumbent,\u201d Steinborn said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s just their policy; it\u2019s nothing personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he expects the Democratic Party to remain neutral because it\u2019s \u201cnot allowed to pick sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steinborn said he\u2019s glad to be returning \u201cback to my roots of being just a passionate citizen, a non-incumbent running for office,\u201d which he said is \u201cnot an unfamiliar position to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steinborn added that he\u2019s \u201cexcited for this challenge.\u201d He said he felt like he made a difference in the N.M. House, particularly with legislation to require webcasting of committee meetings and his work on veterans\u2019 issues. In his news release he also mentioned his work to enact campaign contribution limits and implement reform at the State Land Office.<\/p>\n

The Lujan file<\/h3>\n

Lujan, meanwhile, has represented a relatively safe Democratic district since 2003. Between the serious primary challenge and the new makeup of the district \u2013 75 percent of what\u2019s likely to be the district is new to him \u2013 Lujan knows he has his work cut out for him between now and June 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just have to wear out some leather and hit the streets,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always done grassroots. I don\u2019t do much media or anything. I do mailers and door-to-door, and try to knock on every door. That\u2019s the type of campaign I run.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a> with the Las Cruces Sun-News, Lujan expressed frustration about the Legislature\u2019s focus on driver\u2019s licenses instead of the economy and said he wants another term to help shift the attention to the more important issue.<\/p>\n

The Sun-News noted that Lujan has also tried for years, without success, to pass legislation to implement a statewide ban on texting and cell-phone use while driving. He\u2019s also pushed, without success, to pass legislation that would provide worker\u2019s compensation to agricultural and ranch workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former State Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, announced today that he\u2019s running for the seat currently held by a one-time Democratic House colleague, Antonio Lujan, who is seeking re-election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[156,207,107],"class_list":["post-37353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2012-election","tag-redistricting","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}