Williams was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-sixth Congress in an upset, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Charles J. Carney, and was reelected to the two succeeding Congresses in the 19th and then the 17th district.
Williams was elected in 1978 as a Republican to the Ninety-sixth Congress in an upset, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Charles J. Carney in a heavily Democratic working class district that included the industrial cities of Youngstown and Warren. He was reelected to the two succeeding Congresses in the 19th and then the 17th district.