Before setting up shop as a full-time author in Exeter, Lisa Bunker had a 30-year career in non-commercial broadcasting, most recently as Program Director of the community radio station in Portland, Maine. Besides New Hampshire and Maine she has made homes in New Mexico, southern California, Seattle, and the Florida panhandle. Lisa’s wife, Dawn Huebner, is also a writer, and has a psychology practice in Exeter. Between them they have three grown children. In her leisure time, Lisa studies jazz bass, knits, does yoga, and plays chess.
Candidate’s Statement
I have always felt the impulse to public service. I believe we were put on this planet to help each other.
For three decades I expressed my conviction about public service through my work in non-commercial radio, holding professional positions at stations in Washington, Florida, and Maine. Most recently I served as Program Director of the Community Radio station in Portland, ME, overseeing hundreds of volunteers from every walk of life. I took particular pride in empowering citizens whose voices were under-represented in the mainstream media.
Recently, after decades of trying, I finally got a novel accepted by a major publishing house. I also fell in love. So, I left my career in radio and set up shop as a full-time writer in a household with my wife, Dawn Huebner, who owns a small business in Exeter.
Before I got my big break I was struggling financially. I know what it’s like to work two or three jobs and still come up short at the end of the month. I know what it’s like to be priced out of a housing market. I know what it’s like to have to deal with significant healthcare costs not covered by insurance. I know what it’s like to worry about how you can afford to launch your children into adulthood. I know what it’s like to live one paycheck away from disaster.
And, a final factor: like many other people, I find myself in opposition to our current national administration. I reject its lies, division, fear-mongering, and bullying, and want to do whatever I can to stand up for truth, inclusion, trust, and basic human respect and decency.
I care deeply about working for the common good. I believe in the crucial importance of giving voice to the voiceless, particularly voting rights. I have first-hand lived experience with the growing opportunity gap in the USA. And, I feel passionately that all who oppose government based on lies, fear, and hatred must stand up and speak out as they are able. For all of these reasons, I felt called to run, and am honored to serve the people of Exeter as one of their State Reps.