Embattled Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney has picked up a second formidable challenger as she moves to shore up support after being blasted for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump last month.
Joining the race is state Rep. Chuck Gray, whose Thursday video announcement said, “Chuck Gray isn’t Washington — he’s Wyoming.”
A third challenger, State Sen. Anthony Bouchard, entered the race in January.
A recent state poll showed both Gray and Bouchard ahead of Cheney among Republicans by more than 2 to 1.
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“Looking just at head-to-head Republican primary matchups, Cheney trails Anthony Bouchard and Chuck Gray by the same 27-point margin (23% to 50%). The core Republican base is against her,” said the polling firm McLaughlin & Associates.
Both conservatives, Gray and Bouchard are expected to attack Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, for being more of a Washingtonian than from Wyoming.
What’s more, Trump and his surrogates have marked Cheney for defeat because of her impeachment vote following the Jan. 6 protests.
At the time, she blamed Trump for whipping up his supporters with false claims of election theft. Last month, she doubled down and said, "We will right the unforgivable wrongs of Jan. 6. We will make our party worthy, once again, of the mantle of Lincoln and Reagan.”
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Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, is expected to fight back by taking on the Biden administration’s attacks on the West, energy development, land use, and guns — all vote-getting issues. She has also aggressively criticized the positions of House Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“It is abundantly clear to those of us who actually live in Wyoming that Liz Cheney views her positions as nothing more than a stepping stone, and we're just supposed to go along with it. Well, not anymore. Wyoming agrees with President Trump. It is time to get rid of Liz Cheney,” said Gray.
Cheney has ruled out running for the seat of Sen. Mike Enzi, who has announced plans to retire after his term expires next year.
