Zach Beecher, a former Army paratrooper now running for Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s seat in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, earned a new endorsement today from With Honor Fund, an organization that endorses military veterans from both parties running for office.
The endorsement won’t move many votes in the 11th district on its own, but unlike some national organizations that wade into New Jersey races, With Honor Fund has a history of putting money behind its endorsees.
In 2024, when Assemblyman and Air Force veteran Herb Conaway ran in an open Democratic primary for now-Senator Andy Kim’s House seat, he benefited from $229,000 in independent expenditures from With Honor Fund, per Open Secrets; another veterans-focused group, VoteVets, spent a similar amount as well. Conaway ultimately won that primary with ease and is now a freshman congressman.
With Honor Fund is also a longtime Sherrill supporter, spending more than $900,000 in total to support the former Navy helicopter pilot’s successful House campaigns in 2018, 2020, and 2022. When Sherrill ran for governor this year, Principled Veterans Fund, a group with close ties to With Honor Fund, commissioned an early internal poll finding Sherrill in the lead.
Whether With Honor Fund intends to spend on Beecher’s behalf in a similar way remains unknown, but if the group does do so, it would certainly help Beecher stand out in a crowded 12-way primary featuring many candidates who start out with much higher name recognition.
“As an Army Paratrooper in Iraq, [Beecher] understood that when we put service to nation above self, we can realize great progress,” With Honor Fund said in a statement. “That’s why we’re endorsing his campaign for Congress in NJ-11, because we need more courageous leaders like him in office.”
One other military veteran, former U.S. Army captain and Chatham Councilman Justin Strickland, is also running as a Democrat for the 11th district.
