A day after an NHJournal report on questions about her legal eligibility to appear on the ballot, Julia Williams — daughter of former Gov. John Lynch — announced she’s going to sit out the 2026 election cycle.
But, she insists, it has nothing to do with NHJournal’s reporting. She says she’s been sidelined by hip surgery.
NHJournal published public records showing that Williams and her husband, Brian, bought their New Hampshire home on Dec. 31, 2020. That would put her outside the state’s seven-year residency requirement for gubernatorial candidates.
Even more concerning, critics say, is that she voted by absentee ballot in New Hampshire’s 2018 election while living in a house she and Brian owned in Natick, Mass., at the time.
On Wednesday, the Union Leader’s Kevin Landrigan posted on Twitter/X, “Williams… says she can’t run for gov in 26 after learning she’ll need additional hip surgery due to ‘significant complications’ from surgery last fall. (One) The day after an NH Journal story raised (questions) if she met the 7-year residency test.”
Steven Porter at the left-leaning Boston Globe followed up.
“Can confirm: Julia Williams tells me she’s unable to run for office at this time bc she needs (additional) hip surgery in the coming months.
“Also: Williams said the reporting on her apparent out-of-state residence within the past 7 years had ‘absolutely no impact’ on her decision.”
The medical problems must be doubly frustrating for the sporty Williams, who ran the 2025 Boston Marathon in April, finishing the 26.2-mile race in three hours and 56 minutes.
She’s also an avid hiker. She and Brian tackled the Carter Dome trail last August. Carter Dome is a 4,800-foot mountain in Coös County, and it’s just one of the many 4,000-foot mountains she’s hiked.
Williams declined to respond to repeated requests from NHJournal for comment on her residency and voting record. Public records show that in 2016, the daughter of a prominent Democratic family voted twice in New Hampshire. She declined to say where she lived at the time. Her LinkedIn page says she was working for Woonsocket, R.I., based CVS.
Assuming Williams has finally settled down in the Granite State, she will be able to outrun the question about her residency in time for the 2028 election cycle.
But she will still have questions about her potentially illegal voting hot on her trail.
NHGOP chair Scott Maltzie sent a letter to Attorney General John Formella asking for an investigation into Williams’ voting.
“It was reported that Julia Williams, daughter of former Gov. John Lynch, allegedly voted via absentee ballot in New Hampshire while living in Massachusetts. These are serious allegations that must be investigated,” Maltzie wrote. “It is important that everyone be held to the same standard of the law, including the Lynch family.”
Asked about the letter and the attorney general’s response, a DOJ spokesman declined to comment.
News of a potential Williams run created significant buzz in Granite State Democratic circles as the party struggles to find a major candidate to take on incumbent Gov. Kelly Ayotte. More than two months ago, failed 2024 candidate Cinde Warmington told reporters she was preparing to enter the race, but she’s been invisible since.
Some Democrats are pinning their hopes on Portsmouth Mayor Deglan McEachern. But he told the Portsmouth Herald he’s hoping not to run this year.
With Williams scratched from the race, Democrats are currently stuck with the maverick candidacy of Jon Kiper.
Kiper rates his own chances of winning as “insanely unlikely.”