Gabriel Perry, The Laconia Daily Sun

CONCORD — The candidates competing in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District offered different visions for the nation’s  economic and foreign policy, while they appeared to find common ground on solutions to a nationwide lack of housing in a debate at the NHPR studios in Concord Monday afternoon. 

Democrat Maggie Goodlander, a Nashua native who has spent much of her career in Washington D.C., and Republican Lily Tang Williams, who describes herself as libertarian-leaning and ran twice previously for Congress, met for the first time in this race. The winner will serve the district represented for over a decade by Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster.

Here’s what the candidates had to say about the issues on voters’ minds. 

ECONOMY AND TAXES

Tang Williams expressed strong support for leveling high tariffs on Chinese imports, justifying her position as an important measure to protect the U.S.’s national security. She said she wouldn’t support tariffs on imported goods from other countries. 

“Generally speaking, I support free trade and the tariffs will hurt consumers – but when it comes to China, that’s just a separate issue,” she said. “It’s justified because of national security.”

Tang Williams emphasized throughout the debate the role she said the government plays in driving inflation. She endorsed U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) “Six Penny Plan” to cut 6% of spending across the board. and she has previously supported a federal hiring freeze and cuts to the U.S. Department of Education.

Goodlander emphasized the importance of tax reform in order to benefit the working class, describing a “fair deal” for Americans as providing a level playing field for businesses and cuts in taxes to middle-income earners. 

“I spent three years at the Department of Justice, including working at the antitrust division, where I was taking on corporate monopolies that are jacking-up costs all across the board,” she said. 

Goodlander said federal tax cuts should benefit working families and that Congress should take a close look at Trump-era tax policies. 

“We need fairness when it comes to a level playing field when it comes to businesses in this country and fairness when it comes to taxation,” she said. 

FOREIGN POLICY

Goodlander said the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza forces the U.S. to balance the dual priorities of national security and the promotion of American values. She called for a ceasefire of hostilities in the region, but did not say if she’d support halting US arms sales to Israel. 

“The bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel is one that is rooted, not just in a shared history and shared values, but in shared threats to our own national security,” Goodlander said. “That is the starting premise: That our enemies are Israel’s enemies.”

Tang Williams said she believes the approach taken by the Biden administration – which includes National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan who is married to Goodlander – have made the world less secure and pointed to the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran as evidence of a failed approach. Tang Williams also pointed to spending allocated to the Ukrainian government as evidence that federal policy does not benefit U.S. citizens. 

“The world is on fire, especially the Middle East, because of failed Biden and your husband Jake Sullivan’s foreign policies,” Tang Williams said. “This tragedy would never happen on Oct. 7 if we had very strong, not absent leadership in the White House.”  

GUN SAFETY

Their strongest disagreement between the candidates came on gun safety policy, as Goodlander expressed support for a voluntary firearms buy-back program and Tang Williams provided hard-line constitutional arguments for opposing further gun control efforts. She also said she supports the use of armed volunteers to patrol schools. 

Tang Williams said federal “gun-free zones” – such as exist across the country at schools, community centers or courts, – “cost lives” and said armed volunteers, trained in how to safely manage a firearm, could reduce incidences of gun violence there. 

“My heart goes to all of the victims of gun violence in our country, and whenever something happens, we should look at [the] roots of the problems,” Tang Williams said. “It’s not the guns; guns are just a tool, just like a car is just a tool.” 

Goodlander, who noted the leading cause of death among American children is gun violence, said she supports a “common sense” approach to gun safety policy including the institution of voluntary buy-backs and closing gaps in the background check system such as the so-called Charleston loophole, which allows the sale of a gun to move forward after a three-day period even if no background check has been performed in some cases. 

“I believe in our Constitution and I believe in our Second Amendment,” Goodlander said. “I believe that our Second Amendment allows for a wide-range of common sense gun safety solutions that will address what is the No. 1 killer of our kids in America.”

HOUSING AND ZONING

Goodlander and Tang Williams, while floating different approaches to the housing crisis, reached a level of agreement regarding the need for local zoning reform in order to allow for more building and to reduce red tape.

“I think we need local zoning law reforms,” Tang Williams said. “I believe in local control, but some towns have very, very [restrictive] zoning laws.”

Tang Williams said large-scale investors buying large swathes of land should be investigated by Congress and said people are interested in buying property as a hedge against monetary inflation.

“Our ‘superinflation’ might come if we don’t stop this out-of-control spending,” she said. “It’s an issue caused by the government, and I don’t want the government [coming] in, printing money to offer a bigger government solution.”

Goodlander said the local and federal governments should work together to solve the housing crisis by investing in infrastructure to reduce barriers to build. 

“We know what our mandate is: We need to build 60,000 new homes in the state of New Hampshire by 2030, so that’s going to take real investments in water and in sewage, building on the investments that we saw from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed into law during the Biden-Harris administration,” Goodlander said.  “There’s been a lot of disagreement in this debate, but I couldn’t agree more that we’ve got to find creative ways to help make sure that local zoning laws are pointing in the right direction towards affordability and accessibility.” 

The Know Your Vote, youth voter guide  project was designed, reported and produced by student and young professional journalists from The Clock,The Concord Monitor, The Equinox, Granite State News Collaborative, Keene State College, The Laconia Daily Sun, The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, Nashua Ink Link and The Presidency and the Press program at Franklin Pierce University. See the full guide at  www.collaborativenh.org/know-your-vote.