Deborah "Arnie" Arnesen (born October 1, 1953), is an American radio show host and former politician, serving for eight years as a member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

Early life

Arnesen was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to a Norwegian father and an Italian mother.

Political career

Arnesen is a former fellow of the

Harvard Institute of Politics The Institute of Politics (IOP) is an institute of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University that was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, as well as to inspire Harvard undergraduates to consider careers in politi ...

, and a former member of the

from

Orford, New Hampshire Orford is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,237 at the 2020 census, unchanged from the 2010 census. The Appalachian Trail crosses in the east. History First called "Number Seven" in a line of Connect ...

, serving from 1984 to 1992. She was the Democratic nominee in the

1992 New Hampshire gubernatorial election The 1992 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Republican nominee Steve Merrill, who defeated Ed Dupont and Liz Hager for the Republican nomination, won the election, defeating Deborah Arnie Arnesen, who had def ...

, when she he became the first woman in New Hampshire history to be nominated by a major political party in a race for governor. She also ran for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

in 1996. Arnesen was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...

National Governing Board in 1993 and again in 1997. Arnesen has supported a broad-based tax plan in New Hampshire, rejecting The Pledge and supporting the establishment of a state-level income tax.

Media career

Arnesen is the host of ''The Attitude'' on WNHN 94.7FM in New Hampshire. She has also made several appearances on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Personal life

Arnesen has two daughters, Melissa Arnesen-Trunzo (born 1982) and Kirsten Arnesen-Trunzo (born 1984) from her marriage to Thomas Trunzo. They divorced in 2000. She met Martin J. Capodice in 2000 and married him in 2002. He died in 2013. Currently she runs a B&B (booked through AirBNB) across the street from the Christa McCauliffe school. One of the rooms has a plaque in it where a former Democratic president slept.

References

External links

Harvard University Institute of Politics: Deborah "Arnie" Arnesen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnesen, Deborah 1953 births Living people Democratic Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Politicians from Brooklyn Television personalities from Brooklyn St. Olaf College alumni Vermont Law and Graduate School alumni Women state legislators in New Hampshire People from Orford, New Hampshire 21st-century American women