Bornstein served as a member of the Desert Community College Board of Trustees from 1989 until 1992, when she was elected to the California State Assembly.
[1] Previously numbered the 73rd, the new 80th Assembly district, had been redrawn during reapportionment and was open after incumbent David G. Kelley (R-Hemet) opted to instead run for State Senate.
[2] Initially Bornstein faced a primary challenge from sitting assemblyman Steve Clute (D-Riverside), whose old district had been dismantled and part of which wound up redrawn here.
In the general election, Bornstein defeated incumbent assemblywoman Tricia Hunter (R-San Diego), who like Clute saw her old district split up by reapportionment and part of which ended up redrawn here.
In the 1994 election, the Republican party did very well in California, and she lost to television advertising executive Jim Battin by 12 points, even though he was not initially seen as a threat.