The election results from the state of Wyoming confirmed what much of the political universe anticipated: Rep. Liz Cheney lost her seat in congress to Harriet Hageman.
Once a rising star in the Grand Old Party (GOP), Cheney was defeated by Hageman, a fellow attorney and former Cheney supporter who Trump endorsed last year as his candidate to oppose her.
Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection and her leadership role on the House committee investigating the attack made her Trump’s top political target in the midterms.
The third-term congresswoman and her allies entered a downbeat about the prospect, well aware Trump’s backing gave Harriet Hageman considerable lift in the state where he won by the largest margin during the 2020 campaign. The primary results and the roughly 30-point margin were a powerful reminder of the GOP’s rapid shift to the right. A party once dominated by national security-oriented, business-friendly conservatives like her father, Dick Cheney, now sides with Trump, animated by his populist appeal and believing his defeat in the 2020 elections was a farce.
Liz Cheney’s loss is a staggering setback for what exists of the anti-Trump movement in the Republican Party. Depending on how the numbers are sliced, it might be the biggest incumbent primary loss of the 21st century.
Losing by more than 37.4%, Cheney’s once-promising political career short-circuited and proved, however much or little direct control, the former president still exercises over the party. Running afoul of him remains perilous.
However, Cheney described her primary loss as the beginning of a new chapter in her political career. While she addressed a small collection of supporters, including her father, the former Vice President, she said, “Our work is far from over.” This evokes Abraham Lincoln, who also lost congressional elections before ascending to the presidency and preserving the union. “This primary election is over, but now the real work begins,” Cheney said.
When Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney laid out her future political plans, she said they may include a possible run against Donald Trump in 2024. Cheney acknowledged in an interview with NBC Today she was “thinking” about running for president in 2024. She did not say whether she would run as Republican or independent but said the GOP is “in very bad shape” and said it “could take several election cycles” to return to its principles.
“I think defeating him is going to require a broad and united front of Democrats, Republicans, and independents, and that’s what I intend to be part of,” Cheney said, addressing her supporters outside her home in Jackson Hole.
The loss was an expected outcome for Cheney, who went from party star and heir to a conservative dynasty to a political outcast marked by the moment she chose to break with the former president.
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