GOP Says Rosemary Becchi Can Beat Mikie Sherrill In 11th District

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill will face a Republican challenger with some serious finance experience when she’s up for re-election: Rosemary Becchi.

On Tuesday, Becchi announced she will run for Congress in New Jersey's 11th District, taking on Sherrill, a Democratic Party member who was elected in 2018.

Becchi, a tax policy attorney and the public advocate behind nonprofit Jersey First, previously had plans to challenge incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski in the 7th District. However, Becchi said she decided to step up to the plate when national, state and local Republican leaders asked her to consider a run in the 11th District instead.

Becchi didn’t bother to pull her punches, immediately taking aim at Sherrill in her campaign announcement. (Learn more about her platform)

“Mikie Sherrill has failed our families by standing with Nancy Pelosi's partisan impeachment effort instead of fixing the problems that have made New Jersey simply unaffordable for average families, seniors and our young people -- the future of our economy,” Becchi said.

“Mikie Sherill broke her promise to the people of New Jersey to be a moderate voice for them,” Becchi added.

According to Becchi, if elected, she plans to “protect senior citizens from being shortchanged by foolhardy efforts to expand Medicare to all,” and to “protect the nation’s private sector jobs and businesses from misguided, economy-killing regulations proposed in radical plans to address climate change.”

Here are some of Becchi’s qualifications, according to her campaign team:

“Rosemary has more than 25 years experience in public policy and the law, and she has built a reputation as a leading tax policy advocate. She is widely known for founding and leading Jersey First, a non-profit organization with the mission to educate and advocate for policy solutions to lower taxes, reduce government spending and help put the Garden State’s economy back on track. Rosemary began championing for lower taxes on families with her work on writing the 529 College Savings Law to help families afford college.”

Becchi’s campaign drew praise and support from several prominent Republican leaders in New Jersey.

“The future is bright for Republicans in the state of New Jersey,” Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy said.

“I applaud Rosemary Becchi and her family for embracing the challenge of running for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District,” McCarthy continued. “This news is welcome and exciting as Americans are hungry to change directions from partisanship to solutions.”

Becchi’s announcement also inspired a united show of support from the four Republican county Chairs in the 11th District, which includes Essex, Morris, Passaic and Sussex counties.

The county chairs, Laura Ali (Morris), Al Barlas (Essex), Peter Murphy (Passaic) and Jerry Scanlan (Sussex), offered the following joint statement on Monday:

“We welcome Rosemary Becchi into the race for Congress in District 11. She is exactly the type of energetic, dynamic, and articulate candidate we need to reclaim this congressional seat for the Republican Party. We thank all the leaders within the party who worked tirelessly to help us recruit Rosemary. As the chairs of the four counties that comprise CD11, we wholeheartedly endorse Rosemary’s candidacy, give her our unequivocal endorsement and are eager to get to work to ensure she is victorious in November.”

Becchi said she was “honored” to have the support of the four county GOP leaders.

“I look forward to working with each chair and Republicans throughout the district to defeat Democrat Mikie Sherill and end Nancy Pelosi’s reign of liberal control over New Jersey’s Congressional representation,” Becchi said.

Kinnelon lawyer Larry Casha, who had previously been seeking election in the 11th District, ended his own campaign on Tuesday. Casha said he supported Becchi, and that Republicans “must unite behind one candidate to avoid an expensive and unproductive primary.”

New Jersey’s 11th District had been a Republican stronghold for many years before Sherrill’s victory in 2018, with Rodney Frelinghuysen, the former chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, occupying the seat for decades.

The district includes the following municipalities:

Morris County - Boonton Town, Boonton Township, Butler, Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Denville, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Montville, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown Town, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway Borough, Rockaway Township and Victory Gardens

Essex County - Bloomfield (split with 10th), Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Livingston, Montclair (split with 10th), North Caldwell, Nutley, Roseland, Verona, West Caldwell, West Orange (split with 10th)

Passaic County - Bloomingdale, Little Falls, North Haledon, Pompton Lakes, Totowa, Wanaque, Wayne and Woodland Park

Sussex County - Byram, Hopatcong, Ogdensburg, Sparta and Stanhope

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