EDENTON – In September, Bob Steinburg hinted at the possibility of changing chambers in the North Carolina General Assembly.

This week he made it official, announcing his intentions to file as a candidate for a newly expanded NC Senate District 1.

Steinburg is a Chowan County Republican who has served in the North Carolina House of Representatives (District 1: Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Tyrrell) since 2012.

If the Federal Courts uphold a preliminary map released this week by a Special Counsel, the expanded Senate District 1 will include Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties.

Earlier this year the Federal Courts ordered new maps to be drawn in certain NC House and NC Senate Districts based on the claim that those boundaries were racially gerrymandered.

Steinburg said back in September that he was considering a run for the new Senate District, should it be approved by Federal Court judges. Then, just a few days later, Bill Cook, the incumbent State Senator from what is now District 1 (Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, and Perquimans counties) announced he would retire and not seek reelection in 2018. This came after a court-ordered redistricting plan moved Cook’s home county (Beaufort) into District 3, currently represented by Erica Smith-Ingram, a second term Democrat from Gaston (Northampton County).

That opened the door for Steinburg.

“From my earliest days as a Teenage Republican for Barry Goldwater to this last election for President Donald Trump, Governor Pat McCrory, and Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest, I have worked my entire life for the conservative values that made America the “shining city on a hill” that President Ronald Reagan so wisely recognized,” Steinburg said in a statement formally announcing his intentions to file for the expanded Senate district.

“America is great because its people are God-fearing, good people like we have in Northeast North Carolina,” he added. “Besides my family, the highest honor of my life is fighting for these people and our values in Raleigh, but make no mistake, we are under attack every day. The political establishment would happily sweep aside our beliefs – I cannot let that happen. That’s why I’ve never given a dime to liberals who oppose these values and why I’ve worked with conservative backbone day after day to transform state government. With all that’s at stake, we must continue the fight.”

Since first elected in 2012, Steinburg has established a conservative voting record in the State House and built a reputation for his courage to take on his party on behalf of his constituents. He opposed the compromise repeal of HB2, which protected women and children in bathrooms and locker rooms, and is currently a leading voice for reforming the state’s corrections department. To promote job growth throughout the region, Steinburg led the effort to attract new manufacturing and processing jobs by partnering the state with the Virginia Port Authority’s Port of Norfolk and expanding the Foreign Trade Zone status to include Northeastern North Carolina.

Steinburg formerly served three terms as president of the 14-county Albemarle-Pamlico Republican Club and was nominated in 2011 to the North Carolina Republican Party’s Hall of Fame for his years of service for conservative causes. He has served three terms as chairman of the Chowan County Republican Party and was honored as a delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention.

As an Episcopalian, Steinburg explored a call to ordained ministry after pursuing a career in business. He was elected for three terms as senior warden at his former Episcopal Church and currently is active at St. Paul’s Church in Edenton where he assists those in need of transportation.

A retired businessman and a member of the NRA and Ducks Unlimited, Steinburg serves as Chairman of the Agriculture Committee in the NC House.

He and Marie, his wife of 46 years, have two sons and two grandchildren.