U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander is going back to Washington in a race that wasn’t very close.
The Democratic incumbent who crisscrossed the state on election day defeated Republican challenger Lily Tang Williams on Tuesday, winning a second term in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.
With a quarter of the votes tallied, Goodlander led by 62% to Williams’s 35% with Independent Robbie Mahrou taking 2%.
“Government is a trust, and I know whose trust it is. It is your trust,” Goodlander said. “Whether you voted for me or not, I will work for you, all of you, with all of my heart and with everything I’ve got.”
The race drew little attention next to the Senate contest between Chris Pappas and John Sununu, or even the 1st Congressional District race between Stefany Shaheen and Anthony DiLorenzo. The Democrats won both of those races.
Goodlander’s victory extended her party’s winning streak, keeping the district blue for a seventh consecutive election cycle.
“I feel like she’s brave and she has courage, and she stood up, and she’s declared what she believed in, and got all of the worst backlash that you can possibly imagine,” said Jada Keye Hebra of Dunbarton.
In two years in Congress, Goodlander has cast herself as a pro-democracy fighter and a sharp critic of President Donald Trump. She also signed a “Promise to America” pledge that pushed back against both the far right and the far left, even as progressive Democratic candidates gained ground across the country.
In an interview with the Monitor, she said national politics has too much “grandstanding” and that she tries to keep her focus on local issues.
Goodlander delivered her speech from the second floor of the Arts Alley building in downtown Concord, hugging her husband Jake Sullivan before addressing the crowd.
She thanked many people — her team, her volunteers and the voters — and among them was her mom, Betty, who casted her ballot before going to the hospital to deliver her daughter.
“My mom, she taught me so much, but she showed me what it looks like to really show up, even when it’s inconvenient, even when you’re in labor,” she said. “You don’t wait for someone’s permission to roll up your sleeves and get to work.”
Williams, of Weare, built her campaign around her experience growing up in China and her promise to carry Granite Staters’ voices to Congress. More recently, she has zeroed in on making the American dream affordable. In 2024, she ran on gun rights, border control and dismantling the Department of Education, and she was a staunch supporter of Trump.
Earlier in the day, Williams greeted voters in her hometown in a T-shirt that read “American Patriot” with her name emblazoned across it, and she wore it proudly. The shirt’s message echoed the focus of her campaign.
The economic struggles of voters and their frustration with the Trump administration were too palpable.
“We’re all concerned about affordability and things like that, but I think we have to go back to the root causes here and talk about why are we in this war in Iran?” said Sara Smith of Pembroke. “Why are we sending all this money to Israel to bomb people offensively?”
