"You only go around once in life," the Democrat said on "Jim Cates@ CJOnline" Monday.
"I'd hate to be 70 or 75 years old and sitting around in Laughlin or Florida somewhere and thinking, 'Boy, I should have done that and I didn't and now it is too late.' So I'm looking at it."
Steineger, 47, may be a little frustrated in the state Senate. He's feuded publicly with Hensley and Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius who opposed the re-election bid of Steineger's long-time colleague, state Sen. Mark Gilstrap, a Kansas City, Kan., Democrat.
His leadership challenge of Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley late last year fell flat.
Subsequently, Steineger lost a coveted seat on the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
On the plus side, the Democratic Party looks to be in dire straits for a gubernatorial candidate now that Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson has taken himself out of the running.
"I've had some folks approach me and say 'Chris, You should run for governor. Now's your time,' " he said. "And I guess after 12 years in the Legislature, I've probably got the legislative background to do it."
Chris: Don't listen to the political cronies and ask yourself..
what do I have to offer to the people of Kansas? Give me something to vote for, Chris and we will go from there. What is your platform? How are you going to improve things for the average citizen in Kansas? How are you going to stop the special interests from running our state? What are your plans for alternative fuel sources? What are you going to do about education? What are you going to do about stopping the polluting projects such as the coal-fired power plants and the proposed Gardner intermodal and protecting the people from the killing pollution they cause? What plans do you have for stopping all of the handouts such as TIFs, tax incentives, tax abatements, Star bonds, tax refunds, tax cuts to big biz, developers and special interests that have transferred the tax burden more and more to the average citizen so now they are stooped over almost to the ground with the heavy load?
Give me something to vote for, Chris and we will see how things go.