Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) faces a narrow path to victory in the GOP primary for Wyoming’s at-large House seat during Tuesday’s election, with former President Donald Trump and his allies making her their top target over her criticisms of his rhetoric surrounding the 2020 election and role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. But the Wyoming Republican has voiced no regrets about her decision to speak out against the former president despite the political repercussions she’s faced from many within the party.
In the days leading up to the election, polling has found Cheney trailing Trump-endorsed opponent Harriet Hageman, an attorney and former ally and informal adviser to the congresswoman, by just under 30 points in what has become one of the most-watched races in the country.
TRUMP ALLIES STEP UP EFFORTS TO OUST CHENEY
While a primary win is unlikely, members on both sides of the aisle are watching her next moves as she vows to continue to fight back against Trump and election disinformation if she is ultimately defeated on Tuesday.
“This race is the first battle in a much larger and longer war that Liz is going to win because the future of the country depends on it, and regardless of what the results in this election turn out to be, she is going to lead a broad coalition going forward of Americans across the political spectrum who will stand up for freedom and restore the foundational principles that Donald Trump continues to undermine,” one Cheney ally told the Washington Examiner.
While a handful of Democratic lawmakers and fellow Trump critics have encouraged Democrats to switch parties temporarily to allow them to give her a better shot at winning the GOP nomination in the deep-red state, political operatives have argued that it may not be enough to put her over the edge to victory.
REP. CHENEY ‘PERSONA NON GRATA’ IN WYOMING, SAYS GOP HOUSE PRIMARY RIVAL HAGEMAN
Trump, who regularly releases statements attacking Cheney, has pulled out all the stops to rally his base to vote against her in the Cowboy State, where he remains popular, having held a rally in Casper earlier this summer in an effort to boost Hageman’s odds.
Of the 10 GOP House members that voted for impeachment, just two have survived their primary challenges, with four opting not to seek reelection.
Cheney, who was elected in 2016 and rose rapidly to the No. 3 Republican in the House in just her second term, has been no stranger to backlash since she opted to vote in favor of impeaching the former president for inciting the deadly riot at the Capitol and taking further heat for joining the Jan. 6 select committee against House GOP leadership’s wishes.
After surviving one effort to oust her from her former position as House Republican Conference chairwoman, a position once held by her father during his time in the House, Cheney’s criticisms of Trump at the 2021 House GOP retreat in Orlando, Florida, sparked renewed calls for her ouster. There, she asserted lawmakers who led efforts challenging the election on Jan. 6 should be disqualified from running for president in 2024 and did not rule out a bid herself.
She was ultimately removed from the post in a voice vote by the conference and replaced by Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who previously nominated Cheney for the position in the previous term.
The Republican National Committee opted to censure both Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) for their participation in the Jan. 6 select committee, on which Cheney serves as the vice chairwoman, with the resolution referring to the riot as “legitimate political discourse” — rhetoric that saw some pushback from those within the party.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
But despite the attacks from within the GOP, Cheney’s final ad, which appeared to be directed to an audience broader than Wyoming’s voters, leaned into a rebuke of Trump.
“History has shown us over and over again [that] these types of poisonous lies destroy free nations. Like many candidates across this country, my opponents in Wyoming have said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen,” she says in her closing pitch to voters.
“No one who understands our nation’s laws — no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution — would say that,” she continues. “It is a cancer that threatens our great republic. If we do not condemn these lies, if we do not hold those responsible to account, we will be excusing this conduct, and it will become a feature of all elections.”
