New Jersey 11th District election preview: Mikie Sherrill vs. Rosemary Becchi

• First-term Rep. Mikie Sherrill will face Republican Rosemary Becchi in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.
• The district is located in northern New Jersey, including parts of Essex, Morris, Passaic, and Sussex counties.
• As the November election approaches, Sherrill currently has over ten times more cash on hand than her Republican challenger.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

First-term Rep. Mikie Sherrill will square off against Republican Rosemary Becchi in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

The candidates

Sherrill, the incumbent, is a nine-year veteran of the U.S. Navy where she served as a helicopter pilot and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. After obtaining her law degree post-military, she worked for a litigation firm before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney while working under U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

The 11th District was previously represented by Republican Rodney Freylinghusen for 24 years from 1995 to 2019. Freylinghusen, who served as the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee in his last term, retired in 2018. That year, Sherill defeated her Republican opponent Jay Webber by nearly fifteen percentage points. Before Sherrill was elected to office, the district had not been represented by a Democrat since Joseph Minish lost his fight for reelection in 1985. She is the first woman to represent the district in its 107-year history.

In Congress, Sherill serves on the Committees on Armed Services and the Committee on Science, Space, & Technology. She’s also a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and New Democratic Coalition, two caucuses comprised of moderate Democrats.

Becchi, Sherrill’s Republican challenger, is currently a tax policy attorney and consultant with experience working at the Internal Revenue Service and as a staffer on the Senate Finance Committee

She is centering her campaign platform around lowering taxes, strengthening border security, and reforming the healthcare system. She currently holds an endorsement from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

The district

New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District is located in the northern region of the state, just below the state’s 5th Congressional District. This wealthy, suburban district is home to a chunk of Morris, Passaic, Essex, and Sussex counties, including the cities of Montclair, Morristown, and Pompton Lakes.

For the 2016 presidential election, the district narrowly voted for President Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in a 49-48 percentage point split of the vote after voting for 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney by a margin of six points, according to Daily Kos Elections.

The district is one of thirty in the United States which voted for President Trump but is currently represented by a Democrat in the House.

The money race

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Sherrill has raised $4.3 million for her campaign, over five times more than Becchi’s $837,000. Sherrill also has a substantial cash on hand advantage over her opponent. As the November election approaches, Sherrill has $3.4 million in cash remaining — over ten times more than Becchi with just $308,000.

What experts say

The race between Sherrill and Becchi is rated as “safe Democratic” by Inside Elections, the Cook Political Report, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.