Lily Tang Williams was cooking up a storm on Tuesday evening — both in her kitchen and in her performance in the polls.
The congressional candidate’s family and her campaign volunteers watched the television closely as the Associated Press showed her already having a clear lead in Tuesday’s election. All the while, Williams was roasting ribs and cutting up chicken breasts, showing appreciation how she knew best. The dozen or so people congregating in her rural Weare home loaded up platefuls of food throughout the night of celebration.
For the second time in her political career, Williams clinched the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s second congressional district, setting up a rematch against Democratic Rep. Maggie Goodlander in November. She’d garnered 64.9% of the vote against her primary opponent, Victor Orlando of Hollis, as of Wednesday morning, according to the AP. Williams ran for this position in the last two elections, drawing on her experience growing up in China. She has gained ground each time.
Her campaign highlights affordability issues as she distances herself from President Donald Trump this time around. She said she believes her perseverance and consistency will make this run different.
“I just want to serve the people,” Williams said, mentioning her goal of keeping New Hampshire and America free. “I am the embodiment of the American dream.”
Goodlander, seeking a second term in the U.S. House, coasted to victory over a progressive challenger, state Rep. Paige Beauchemin of Nashua. Goodlander led 81.6% to 18.3% with most of the votes counted as of Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press.
Goodlander framed the midterm election as being about two “very different visions” for the future.
“One vision hands tax breaks to billionaires. It provides cover to price-gouging corporations. It involves senseless wars of choice that are jacking up our costs, cruel cuts that are ripping health care away from people in every corner of our district,” Goodlander said on Tuesday evening. “The other vision, I think, is simpler. It’s our vision to protect the promises that we have made to one another … It’s a vision about lowering costs, the sky-high costs of living, and making prosperity not a distant promise but a reality for everybody in the state, in the richest country in the history of the world.”
Williams argues that Goodlander has not adequately represented New Hampshire and challenged her to a debate.
“If people really want the representation and have a voice in Washington, D.C., not the partisan hat, they should check me out and vote for me,” Williams said. “Otherwise, she has more money, she has a machine backer, and so we have [an] uphill battle to fight. But I’m a happy warrior.”
Trump isn’t on the ballot, but the president still has unmatched influence in the midterm elections. Voters who supported Goodlander viewed her as a fighter who stands up to him. Last year, she made a video urging military personnel to follow the Constitution and not any “illegal orders” from Trump, who retaliated with a Department of Justice investigation.
“Maggie Goodlander is a smart cookie, and with her military background and the way she speaks to people, and I just think she’s smart and she’s not abrasive,” said Stephanie Green, a Hopkinton resident. “I think she’s somebody that everybody can work with, and she’s done a good job, so I don’t see any reason to replace someone who’s done a good job.”
Beauchemin had mounted a challenge against Goodlander, arguing that New Hampshire’s federal delegation was too centrist. She criticized votes where Goodlander sided with Republicans and her acceptance of endorsements and campaign contributions from pro-Israel groups.
“I know New Hampshire folks like their Democrats moderate, but they don’t care how right-wing their Republicans are,” said Chris Healey of Antrim, who voted for Beauchemin. He said the progressive candidate better reflected his values.
Beauchemin said in a statement on Wednesday that despite being far outspent, she’s proud of her campaign and is looking ahead toward the 2028 election.
“The working people of New Hampshire finally had a voice,” Beauchemin said. “Progressives in New Hampshire are going to take that momentum and keep building. And our voice is only going to grow stronger and more strategic.”
Victor Orlando, who competed against Williams in the Republican primary, said he couldn’t overcome his lack of name recognition. He owns a roofing company in Hollis and was a first-time candidate this election cycle.
“Most did not know who I was,” Orlando said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Still, he urged members of his party to move forward: “We as Republicans need to unite; we need to support our candidates for the general.”
