GOP tries to take Senate seat by any means
This is a desperate time for a frantic fellow. It’s so bad state Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce is omitting half of a bizarre, convoluted story to injure a political opponent.
In a press handout, Pearce highlighted a confidential government report from last year in which lobbyist Laura Bonar said then-state Rep. Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces sexually harassed her in 2014.
“He put his hand on my face and just sort of held my face. It was a really weird, uncomfortable moment. I was cornered, and he just kept saying my name and looking at me,” Bonar said in the report, which was compiled by a subcommittee of the state House of Representatives.
Steinborn, now a state senator who’s running for reelection, told me he never touched Bonar or sexually harassed her. And now Bonar agrees with him. Her attorney, Levi Monagle, last week issued this statement on Bonar’s behalf: “While Laura and many other lobbyists, staffers, legislators and citizens have had encounters at the Roundhouse that were inappropriate or unsettling in one way or another, Laura can (and does) authoritatively state that she was never sexually harassed by Jeff Steinborn.”
Pearce has seen the statement, but he acts like it doesn’t exist. Bonar exonerating Steinborn wouldn’t make much of a headline for Pearce, and headlines ripping the opposition are what Pearce cares about.
As for Steinborn, he said he appreciated Bonar speaking up for him. Steinborn also said he doesn’t know how Bonar’s initial allegation came about.
“I can say unequivocally that I have not sexually harassed anyone,” Steinborn said.
By Bonar’s latest account, two other lawmakers sexually harassed her while she lobbied for the advocacy group Animal Protection Voters New Mexico. One is an old story, but the other just surfaced.
Bonar in 2018 accused then-state Rep. Carl Trujillo, of sexually harassing her years earlier. Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, said he was innocent.
A legislative inquiry began. Monagle described part of it in his recent statement on behalf of Bonar.
“There was an incident discussed in the 2018 legislative investigations where Laura was sexually harassed by another legislator besides Carl Trujillo, but that legislator was not Jeff Steinborn,” Monagle said. “That legislator is deceased, and Laura has no interest in speaking ill
of the dead.”
Trujillo lost his seat in a Democratic primary election a month after Bonar publicly accused him of sexual harassment.
A legislative panel was to make a finding for or against Trujillo in December 2018. Bonar declined to appear. The legislative panel could not conclude its work without her sworn testimony.
Trujillo left office complaining the process had been rigged against him. Splashy allegations by Bonar had hurt his candidacy and reputation, but they were never tested in a public forum where his accuser could be questioned under oath.
Trujillo said he had so little to do with Bonar he didn’t remember who she was when she first accused him.
Monagle gives a different account.
“In 2018, Laura and her coworkers at APVNM took a strong stance against sexual harassment at the Roundhouse. Insofar as Carl Trujillo was a staunch supporter of the animal protection cause, Laura and her coworkers took their stance against their organization’s own political interests.”
None of this had anything to do with Steinborn. But while the House subcommittee’s inquiry of Trujillo’s conduct was underway, Bonar also discussed another lawmaker holding her face and said it “felt abusive.”
This led the subcommittee to state that Steinborn “very likely engaged in sexual harassment.”
Steinborn by then was a senator. Bonar’s complaint about him was forwarded by confidential memo to a bipartisan committee of Senate leaders.
Pearce’s Republican Party falsely claims the “Democratic legislative leadership killed the matter on a partisan vote.”
In fact, Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, joined with two Democrats in finding Bonar’s complaint against Steinborn did not warrant further investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
The Democratic senators involved in that decision were Majority Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe and President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces.
It appears to be a correct decision, since Bonar now says Steinborn is innocent.
Steinborn has no criticism of Bonar. Steinborn, though, says Pearce attacked him unfairly.
“This thing was very welltimed to smear me,” Steinborn said.
Republican Kimberly Skaggs is challenging Steinborn in the November election.
Republicans are the minority party in both chambers of the state Legislature. Steinborn represents a swing district. Who knows? If the Republicans cover Steinborn in mud, they might take away his seat.
That’s Pearce’s way. He talks a good game about civility, fair play and respecting New Mexico.
But to Pearce and his downtrodden party, this campaign is about winning by any means necessary.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican. com or 505-986-3080.