The classical problem of a semiconductor laser subject to polarized injection is revisited. From the laser rate equations for the transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes, we first determine the steady states. We then investigate their linear stability properties and derive analytical expressions for the steady, saddle-node, and Hopf bifurcation points. We highlight conditions for bistability between pure- and mixed-mode steady states for the laser subject to either TE or TM injection. To our knowledge, the first case has not been documented yet. An important parameter is the ratio of the polarization gain coefficients and we explore its effect on the stability and bifurcation diagrams.