Bobbi Boudman looked familiar to some of the Ossipee Lake residents attending the Broad-Leavitt Bay Association’s candidate forum in July.

Wasn’t that her at an Effingham gas station hearing last year with a gas can, a water filter and a siphon to make a point about the threat to the Ossipee Aquifer? Yes, it was.

After more than two years of often dry technical discussions in the controversial case, Boudman thought a visual was needed to remind people of what was at stake.

It was vintage Boudman, according to those who have watched her win over audiences by adding a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor while addressing officials she thinks aren’t taking environmental issues seriously enough.

Now she’s running for State Representative in Carroll County’s District 7, which includes a large part of Ossipee in addition to Wolfeboro and Tuftonboro. It’s a race she ran, and lost, two years ago to Glenn Cordelli.

The candidate match-up is the same this time, with education being a major focus. But Boudman is also reaching out to voters in newly energized lake communities who say they’re looking for change in how the legislature deals with lake environmental issues.

Thus was Boudman in Ossipee at the Broad-Leavitt Bay Association forum in July.

“When you had a problem up here,” she said of the gas station case, “I made sure I attended your meetings,” adding that “as an environmentalist,” I believe “all of our water is connected, and it’s really important for us to stick together on water quality.”

Spotting incumbent Cordelli at the meeting, she used the remainder of her allotted two minutes to focus on his votes against legislation regulating PFAS and landfills, two environmental issues she has championed.

Seemingly caught off guard, Cordelli said he wasn’t there to make a political statement, but added that lakes are important to him.

Boudman isn’t the only local candidate for state office who claims to be committed to protecting our lakes and drinking water, but she is the one who has most eagerly embraced the opportunity to connect with lake communities by speaking directly to their concerns.

At the top of her website’s list of the legislature’s “obligations” to the public is “To protect our public lands and waters.” Her opponent’s website makes no mention of lake issues, drinking water or the environment beyond accusing Boudman of mischaracterizing his voting record, especially his vote against HB 1649.

The bipartisan bill, signed into law by the governor this summer, prohibits manufacturers from intentionally adding PFAS to an array of consumer products including baby mattresses, portable sleepers and playpens.

Cordelli says the bill “went too far” to earn his vote. Boudman says his vote shows he is out of touch with the mainstream on environmental issues.

Diverse Volunteer Work
Politics was never at the top of Boudman’s career plans. After marrying and enjoying success in the music and sports industries, she and her husband settled in Wolfeboro in 2008 to raise their son.

Volunteering became her focus, and her resume spans local theatre productions, skiing programs and municipal boards. She says her interest in lake issues and water quality stems from her work with Wentworth Watershed Association.

Anne Blodget, the Association’s immediate past board chair, says Boudman is “noteworthy” for her support of education and the environment, adding that she is “a problem solver” with “energy and commitment.”

Long before the danger of PFAS was fully understood, Boudman could be found addressing skeptical Wolfeboro officials about the dangers of having “forever chemicals” in the town’s Astroturf sports field.

Wolfeboro resident Tisha Daniels says she has seen Boudman stand alone on an issue and stick with it until she finds herself in the majority, such as was the case with PFAS.

“For those of you who don’t know Bobbi, you might have more in common with her than you think,” Daniels wrote in a recent public letter.

For Boudman, this year’s election is about “coming together through honest dialogue focused on facts that uplift our citizens,” as she wrote in August in the Granite State News.

Since winning the District 7 primary this month, she has repeated her challenge to Cordelli to sit with her and publicly discuss how his votes are “working in the best interests of our towns and our people.”

Boudman says she will be at the Berry Bay Association’s October 5 candidate forum on lake and water issues. The Association’s President, Roberta MacCarthy, said Cordelli has not responded to several invitations to attend.

Ossipee Lake residents like Gloria Villari have taken notice of the District 7 race. Villari is on the board of Broad-Leavitt Bay Association and helped organize its July candidate forum. She says Boudman’s candidacy resonates with her.

“She seems to be present at so many local meetings to discuss lake issues when others stay out of sight…and she “sticks with lake conservation as her guide,” Villari says.

Villari said that while some people were surprised by Boudman’s direct approach to confronting her opponent about his voting record at the association’s July meeting, she thought the “timing was appropriate.”

“I admire her honesty, her stamina and her approach,” she said.