Maggie Goodlander’s Washington D.C. resume was long from the beginning. She’d worked in the Department of Justice, clerked for the United States Supreme Court and served as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve. Now, she has added U.S. Congress to the list. 

Goodlander will succeed longtime Rep. Annie Kuster in New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District after defeating Republican Lily Tang Williams. As of Wednesday morning, the Democrat had captured more than 53% of the vote with well over 90% of the precincts reporting. 

For voters like Thalia Floras the year started on a down note with Democrats. President Joe Biden had skipped the first in the nation primary, so she registered as an independent to support Nikki Haley. 

Goodlander spared her sorrow.

To Floras, Goodlander’s resume impressed her from the start, so much so that she drove up from Nashua on Election Day to celebrate in Concord with her rescue dog Lucy in tow. 

For Mike Lewis, electing a candidate is akin to making a hire. Goodlander’s resume hits the nail on the head with New Hampshire roots but Washington D.C. experience. 

“We're in the situation of hiring someone who is grounded in and grew up here but her professional experiences will make her very capable when representing us in D.C.,” he said. 

Goodlander launched her campaign for Congress in May, moving back to her hometown of Nashua to be eligible in the district. At the time, former Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern was incumbent U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s handpicked successor. 

While Goodlander rattled off her resume on the campaign trail, it also yielded some skepticism. Van Ostern launched attacks that she was out of touch from her time out of state and Williams was quick to highlight her husband, Jake Sullivan, who is Biden’s national security adviser. 

And despite spending her adult years in Washington D.C., Goodlander leaned into her longstanding New Hampshire family ties. Her mother, Betty Tamposi, was a Republican legislator in the New Hampshire state house and ran for the same congressional seat in 1988, where her candidacy was met with staunch opposition from male competitors, who coined the slogan “a women’s place is in the home, not the House.” 

On Election Day her daughter flipped that message on its head with blue and white campaign signs that read, “A woman’s place is in the United States House.” 

For Weare residents like Brenda Lashway, watching Williams rise to prominence was a long time coming. To her, Williams’ candidacy, and story of leaving communism in China, is emblematic of American values. 

“It has been a crazy ride,” she said. “She was on the low key for so long.” 

When Lashway, who has lived in Weare for 40 years, arrived at the middle school to vote Tuesday morning, the line at the polls spanned down the street as Williams greeted voters. 

Prior to their congressional runs, neither Goodlander nor Williams had held office. Yet their candidacies offered a stark contrast in political ties and support. One took pride in her Washington connections while the other referenced the nation’s capital as “the swamp.” 

Ahead of election day, Goolander raised nearly $4 million, while Williams never broke $1 million, stating that she never had enough cash on hand for television advertisements. 

To a crowd in Nashua, Williams assured voters that this would not be the end of her political career. 

“No matter what happens tonight I'm not going to disappear,” she said. “I’m a happy warrior, I’m not really exhausted after campaigning for 17 months.”

Williams told voters to continue to follow her and that she’d have plans despite the result. That is after she takes a long vacation with her husband.