Rep. Liz Cheney raised nearly $3 million in the first quarter of this year and grew her war chest to almost $7 million as the Wyoming Republican fights to hold off a GOP primary challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Sources familiar with Cheney’s fundraising in January, February, and March confirmed Monday that the congresswoman plans to report to the Federal Election Commission a first-quarter fundraising total of $2.94 million and cash on hand of $6.8 million. Those are big numbers for a small state like Wyoming. But Cheney could need every penny to defeat Republican primary challenger Harriet Hageman, an attorney.
Wyoming, a solid red state, delivered nearly 70% of its vote to Trump in 2016 and 2020. The former president’s support for Hageman in the Aug. 16 primary to pick a Republican nominee for Wyoming’s single, at-large House seat could be difficult for Cheney to overcome. But in the competition for resources, Cheney has the upper hand: Hageman’s first-quarter haul was just $1.3 million.
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Politico’s “Playbook” newsletter first reported the news of Cheney’s first-quarter fundraising. Fox News was first with Hageman’s numbers.
Cheney and Trump enjoyed a cordial relationship during the former president’s term in office, although they occasionally differed on foreign policy matters. But their rapport dissolved after Trump was ousted by President Joe Biden and the outgoing 45th president began claiming that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump vowed to oust Cheney in her primary after she voted to impeach him for his alleged culpability in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the United States Capitol by the former president’s grassroots supporters. The congresswoman, booted from her position as the No. 3 ranking House GOP leader by her colleagues over her schism with Trump, has refused to back down.
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She is now one of two Republicans serving on the House select committee investigating the riot at the Capitol. The congresswoman has raised $10 million so far in the 2022 election cycle.
