On Sept. 10, Democratic candidate Maggie Goodlander and Republican candidate Lily Tang Williams won their respective primaries to represent New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, currently held by retiring Democratic Representative Annie Kuster ’78.
Goodlander, an attorney and former Biden administration official, won 63.8% of approximately 67,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary, while Colin Van Ostern Tu’09, a business manager and former state executive councilor, won 36.2%. Van Ostern, who had served as Kuster’s campaign manager and senior advisor, launched his campaign the day after Kuster announced her retirement — gaining her endorsement the following week. When Goodlander joined the race a few weeks later, she also brought with her a set of powerful Democratic connections, including her husband, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The race divided the Democratic establishment and became one of the most contentious primaries of the cycle.
Tang Williams won a 13-candidate Republican primary with 35.8% of approximately 61,000 reported votes. Her closest challenger, Vikram Mansharamani, won 27% of the vote, and Bill Hamlen ’84, a Hanover resident, won 16%.
According to Cook Political Reports, a non-partisan group which provides election ratings, the race is competitive but will lean “likely Democrat” in November. The seat has been held by Democrats since 2012, according to Ballotpedia. About 30% of voters in the district are registered Democrats, 30% are registered Republicans and 40% are independents, according to the Washington Post.
Tang Williams focused on the economy at a Dartmouth forum in August
Tang Williams, a local businessperson who manages rental properties, was born to illiterate parents and grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China. In addition to business, she helped found the New Hampshire Asian American Coalition and serves on the Speakers Bureau of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. According to her campaign website, she came to the United States in 1988 to attend graduate school and moved to New Hampshire in 2019. In 2016, she ran unsuccessfully as a Libertarian in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race. In 2022, she ran for the Granite State’s 2nd Congressional District and finished third in a nine-person primary.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Tang Williams said she was “very grateful” for the “overwhelming support” she received in the 2024 primary.
“I was pleasantly surprised — I did not expect that I would win by that many points,” Tang Williams said. “I arrived in America with nothing — with $100 in my pocket and no English — and won a major party nomination for Congress. It’s almost like a miracle. I hope we make history again.”
On Aug. 19, the College hosted Tang Williams and Hamlen for a candidate forum in Filene Auditorium. In his introduction, forum moderator and Conservative Students of Dartmouth vice president Jack Coleman ’26 said New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District is a “must-win if Republicans seek to expand their majority in the House.”
In her opening remarks, Tang Williams said she was “totally brainwashed” by the Chinese Communist Party growing up but learned about liberty and freedom after moving to the United States.
During the debate, Tang Williams advocated for a “free-market capitalist vision” and making the 2016 Trump administration tax cuts permanent to curb inflation.
“We cannot keep growing our debt and keep printing money — that’s what drives up inflation,” Tang Williams said. “ … We need to get the government out of the way, make Trump tax cuts permanent and cut down government regulations and out-of-control spending.”
Tang Williams also argued that the United States must continue attracting legal immigrants while also “[securing] our border.”
“I am a legal immigrant,” Tang Williams said. “I came here and worked hard and saved money. … I love legal immigrants. They come here and work really hard.”
During the forum, Tang Williams acknowledged that the race is “leaning a little bit Democratic” but added that there are more independents than registered Republicans or Democrats in the district. She also emphasized her unique perspective as a Chinese immigrant.
“Nobody is like me in the U.S. Congress,” Tang Williams said. “It comes down to trust. … People trust me to represent them. They say, ‘Lady, you seem like the real deal. You are honest and you survived socialism [and] communism, so we trust you when you go to D.C.’”
Tim Finney, a volunteer on Tang Williams’s campaign, said Tang Williams is “passionate” and a “true freedom fighter.” He added that she would bring a “unique perspective” to immigration as the first immigrant from China elected to Congress.
“She’s spot on in saying that no one in Congress would have her perspective,” Finney said.
In an interview with The Dartmouth following the forum, Monadnock region resident Brian Sawich said he felt Tang Williams had “personal validity” when she spoke about immigration, adding that he found her personal experience with immigration “compelling.”
Southern New Hampshire College Republicans chairman Ky Urban — who said he supported Tang Williams in the primary — said Republicans need to appeal to moderates in order to win the district. Democrats have the “upper hand” in fundraising, he added.
In the interview, Tang Williams said she will be focusing on the issues that “people tell me they are most concerned about” — inflation, the economy and border security — going forward.
“Young people cannot afford rent or to buy a house — they just feel like they have no shot at their American dream,” Tang Williams said. “I am just sad when I hear that, but I am also trying to be very positive and say, ‘Become engaged citizens, involved in the process and vote for the politicians who you trust to represent you.’”
Tang Williams added that she “will not be corrupted” and “will not represent special interests.”
“I will represent the people, because I was born into poverty and I feel sympathetic towards people who don’t have voices in today’s politically divisive environment,” Tang Williams said. “Some politicians forgot about the regular common folks out here.”
The Democratic primary was contentious
Both Democratic candidates campaigned as moderates and had similar policy platforms, but the race turned bitter and personal in the final stretch, with both campaigns releasing negative attack ads that divided the Democratic establishment. POLITICO called the race the “ugliest Democratic primary of the cycle,” noting the candidates’ attacks against each other. In television ads, Goodlander attacked Van Ostern on his business record and claimed he was a “perennial candidate,” while Van Ostern criticized Goodlander for raising money from out-of-state donors and spending most of her career outside the 2nd District.
Van Ostern also questioned Goodlander’s support of reproductive rights. An ad released by his campaign in late August claimed that Goodlander was less committed to defending reproductive rights because she had donated to two “pro-life Republicans.” Goodlander countered that she had donated once to a former classmate and once to a former Congressman who supported impeaching former President Donald Trump and that neither donation was related to abortion. In an interview with NBC News, Goodlander called Van Ostern’s ad “dishonest” and “disgraceful.”
Following the ad’s release, several prominent New Hampshire officials, including former governor John Lynch, switched their endorsements from Van Ostern to Goodlander. Lynch specifically cited the negative tone of Van Ostern’s ads as the reason for his switch, calling them “nasty” in an interview with POLITICO.
Despite several prominent switches, Van Ostern had Kuster’s endorsement as well as the support of every endorsing Democratic mayor and labor union in the district on election day, according to the Washington Post. During an Aug. 12 Democratic candidate forum hosted by the College, Van Ostern said he had “overwhelming grassroots support” in his closing remarks, according to past reporting by The Dartmouth.
Goodlander — who has connections in the Biden White House from her time as an administration aide — had support from national politicians including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. According to NHPR, Goodlander’s Washington, D.C. connections helped her outraise Van Ostern. Super PAC Vote Vets spent more than one million dollars on direct mail and television ads against Van Ostern, according to POLITICO. By Aug. 21, Goodlander had raised $2.4 million against Van Ostern’s $1.3 million, according to POLITICO.
Although Goodlander won the 2nd District by a wide margin overall, Van Ostern received 57% of the vote in Hanover, a town where both candidates have spent time beyond their campaigns. Van Ostern attended the Tuck School of Business, and Goodlander taught a summer course in the government department about constitutional law in 2023. In an interview with The Dartmouth, Goodlander said her time teaching the course helped “distill and refine” her thinking around Supreme Court reform, an issue she hopes to “lead on” if elected to Congress.
“It is past time — we need a binding code of conduct and ethics for the United States Supreme Court,” Goodlander said. “So much of the way I think about Supreme Court reform was developed during my time teaching this course.”
Goodlander said she also plans to address the rising cost of housing. The Upper Valley “in particular” faces rising housing costs that are “unmanageable” for seniors on fixed income, she said.
Goodlander added that if elected to Congress, she would use her experience as an attorney in the Justice Department to “[take] on corporate monopolies” that lead to higher rent prices.
“I bring experience having taken on one piece of [the housing] problem, which is corporate monopolies and multibillion dollar private equity firms who are buying up single family homes and jacking up the cost of rent for hardworking people in this country,” Goodlander said. “I want to bring this fight to Congress because I think we can do something about it.”
With more than a month left in the race, Dartmouth students will have opportunities to engage with the Tang Williams and Goodlander campaigns. Dartmouth Democrats executive director Quinn Allred ’26 said that Dartmouth students could be instrumental in deciding the election outcome in November.
“This district was won by less than 1,100 votes in the 2016 Maggie Hassan and Kelly Ayotte [Senate] matchup — and Dartmouth students decided that outcome,” Allred said. “I am seeing massive levels of inspiration and passion for this race and for other Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. Students realize the time to take action is now.”
The Rockefeller Center for Public Policy has reached out to the Goodlander and Tang Williams campaigns to arrange a debate on campus prior to the Nov. 5 election, assistant director for public programs and special events Dvora Greenberg Koelling wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
Tang Williams added that she has agreed to return to Dartmouth for an event hosted by the Dartmouth Conservatives and Dartmouth Democrats, but that the details have not yet been worked out.
“I love visiting college campuses,” Tang Williams said. “Whenever there is an opportunity to involve our youth in the democratic process, I think that it is a great thing … We will have informed town halls, we will have vigorous debate. People can decide for themselves.”
