CONCORD — The race for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District is headlined by two unique and opposite candidates.
The Democratic side features Maggie Goodlander , a former Biden administration official who is married to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. But aside from her D.C. pedigree, she was born and raised in Nashua and hails from a prominent Republican political family in the state.
Republican nominee Lily Tang Williams, on the other hand, was born in China and lived there for 24 years. The rental property manager is a perennial candidate, having run unsuccessfully for office before in both New Hampshire and Colorado.
The two are running in the first open race for the seat in over a decade. The winner will succeed Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster, who has represented the second district since 2013 and chose not to seek re-election.
The second district covers the western, northern, and much of the non-Seacoast southern part of the state, the cities of Concord and Nashua, and Hanover, home to Dartmouth College. The district leans Democratic , and recent polls show Goodlander with a solid double-digit lead over Williams.
Who is Maggie Goodlander?
Goodlander said when the congressional seat became open, her friends and family encouraged her to jump into the race.
“My mom ran for the seat when I was 2 years old. So, I’ve been adjacent to politics my whole life, but I’ve never run for office before ... this has been an adventure,” she said. “It would be truly the honor of my lifetime to represent the 2nd District in Congress.”
Goodlander has deep national political ties. She’s served in all three branches of the U.S. government, working for Biden, former Sen. John McCain, and former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, to name a few. She’s been endorsed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who spoke at her wedding.
Yet Goodlander has also emphasized her New Hampshire connections. Her grandfather, Samuel Tamposi, was a prominent GOP activist and her mother, Betty Tamposi, unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Republican in 1988. A Nashua native, she said this time of year she loves to drive on the Kancamagus Highway to see foliage.
Goodlander was also an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve for 11 years, received a degree from Yale Law School, and has taught constitutional law at UNH and Dartmouth.
Goodlander has been criticized, both in the primary and by her Republican opponent, for being a “DC insider” and having been out of the state for a long time.
“I'm the only candidate in this race who was born and raised here in New Hampshire,” she said. “I'm New Hampshire through and through. This is my home. It's always been my home. It's the state that made me who I am today, and it's the place where my husband and I really hope to raise our family one day.”
Where does Goodlander stand on the issues?
Goodlander’s top three priorities fit into three words, she said: “fairness, freedom, and democracy.” They include the high cost of housing, reproductive rights, and protecting America’s democracy.
“Day 3 on this job is Jan. 6,” she said. “I come to this work, you know, having fought for voting rights right here in New Hampshire throughout my career and believing deeply that we've got a lot of work to do to protect our democracy, to make sure that every vote is counted and that we see a peaceful transfer of power in this country.”
She has emphasized abortion rights and the fall of Roe v. Wade often in her campaign. During her contentious primary race against Colin Van Ostern, she highlighted her gender as well as her own experience losing a child to show how for her “it’s personal.”
Along with housing, she plans to address costs by supporting proposals that lower the cost of childcare and eldercare.
Goodlander said the country’s immigration laws are outdated. Her grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Greece, she said, during a time where the immigration system was able to “meet that moment.” She wants to see immigration reform similar to the bipartisan immigration reform bill that collapsed after public objections from former President Donald Trump earlier in 2023 that included methods to stop drugs from coming across the border.
“I’m a person who has always found ways to work across the aisle,” Goodlander said, adding that her time in the Navy taught her how to “mute out the nonsense” like partisan bickering.
“I learned how to do that and how to work with people who I might not agree with on much of anything, apart from the mission right in front of us,” she said, adding her oft-repeated phrase that she is a “workhorse” rather than a “show horse.” “I think we need more of that in Congress, because there's way too much grandstanding.”
Who is Lily Tang Williams?
Williams said she grew up in China under Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution. She said during that time, she felt “very alone” and that she could not speak her mind. On her campaign website, she said she experienced poor living conditions, food rationing, and Communist indoctrination.
In 1988, she came to the United States as a legal immigrant to attend graduate school.
“I had to learn English. I had to struggle financially to finish my graduate school, pay the bills and pay back my debt and learn about my new country and the new culture,” she said. The reason she came, she said, was for the American ideals of freedom, equality and independence.
But now, she’s worried America is “changing.”
“How horrible if we go down that path of, you know, socialist policies, you know, even communism in this country. So I really feel passionate about, you know, to fight, to save (the) American dream, because I don't want our country to change,” she said. “Some people might not recognize that because they never lived under communism, but I did.”
Williams said she first became politically involved when she lived in Colorado, fighting against President Barack Obama’s Common Core education program. Originally a Republican, she briefly joined the Libertarian Party after feeling like the party had left her. She moved to New Hampshire about five years ago after being contacted by the Free State Project, a group that recruits libertarians to move to New Hampshire to make the state a stronghold for libertarian values. She rejoined the Republican Party before moving and said she is not an active member of the Free State Project now, but members of the group are “freedom lovers” and “no threat.”
She said one of her favorite parts of New Hampshire is the ability to buy homemade ice cream along with fresh vegetables and meat at nearby farms.
“I have supporters I will go to deliver signs all sudden they say that, ‘Hey, you want to pick some vegetables from our garden?’ I just love it,” she said. “That's why I feel like I really want to serve the people. They will come in with open arms.”
Where does Williams stand on the issues?
Williams’s top priority is inflation: she wants to cut spending and criticized the federal government for "print[ing] money."
She’s also focused on illegal immigration. As an immigrant herself, she said she knows how hard it is to come here legally and become a citizen. Her brother waited 13 years in China to immigrate legally.
While most of the people crossing are “probably good people,” she said, “you just don’t know.”
“We need to send a message out to say we're going to secure our border. If you want to come here to work, to work hard,” she said, “we welcome you, and we will streamline the process for the legal immigrants.”
Free speech is also a very important issue for Williams. She thinks the government is trying to censor speech on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, adding she went to “Facebook jail” herself for speaking against the vaccine and mask mandates during the COVID 19 pandemic. She said it should be up to American citizens to judge and to make well informed decisions for themselves.
Williams said she does not support a federal abortion ban and she wants abortion to stay a states’ issue.
Williams has endorsed former President Donald Trump and supports most of his policies.
Despite running in a blue-leaning district, Williams said her story of achieving the American dream after surviving communism and poverty resonates with people. She said she knows how to focus on common ground and build trusting relationships no matter the party.
“Constitution and liberty are my North Stars, and I always put my principles over the party and the country over the party,” Williams said. “I'm very transparent. That's how I want to serve in the Congress: dignity, integrity and transparency.”
The election will take place Nov. 5.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Goodlander vs. Tang Williams: Where candidates for NH 2nd District US House seat stand
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