She was the first openly LGBT member of the New Mexico legislature, serving a single four-year term that began in January 1993.
She spent more than ten years as the executive director of Open Hands, a charity serving the elderly, disabled and poor, before it shutdown from a lack of funds and substantial debt.
[4] In her race for re-election in 1996, she faced a primary challenge from Phil Griego, a former member of Santa Fe City Council.
In 2000, she mounted a rematch against Griego, aiming to win back the seat she'd previously held in the state senate.
[7] Stefanics spent several years as the director of the New Mexico Health Policy Commission, a post to which she was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson.
[10] She has spent almost two decades with her partner, Linda Siegle, a former chairman of the Santa Fe Community College Board of Trustees.