Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican challenger in Congress, was defeated in Tuesday’s GOP primary, losing to a challenger backed by the former president in a showdown that strengthened his grip on the party’s base. The third-term congresswoman and her allies entered the day downbeat about her prospects, knowing Trump’s endorsement had given Harriet Hageman a significant boost in the state she won by the largest margin during the 2020 campaign. Cheney was already looking ahead. to a political future beyond Capitol Hill, which could include a 2024 presidential run, potentially setting her on another collision course with Trump. Cheney described her loss as the start of a new chapter in her political career as she addressed a small gathering of supporters, including her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, at the edge of a vast field flanked by mountains and hay bales. “Our work is far from over,” he said Tuesday night. Hinting at a presidential run of her own, she later added: “I’ve said since January 6th that I will do whatever it takes to make sure that Donald Trump is never near the Oval Office again – and I mean it.” Four hundred miles to the east, celebratory Hageman supporters gathered at a huge outdoor rodeo and western culture festival in Cheyenne, many wearing cowboy boots, hats and blue jeans. The results were a stark reminder of the GOP’s rapid shift to the right. A party once dominated by national security-oriented, business-friendly conservatives like her father now belongs to Trump, buoyed by his populist appeal and, above all, by his denial of defeat in the 2020 election. Echoing Trump, Hageman, a farm lawyer, falsely claimed the 2020 election was “rigged” as she courted Trump loyalists. Such lies, which have been rejected by federal and state election officials along with Trump’s attorney general and judges he has appointed, have turned Cheney from an occasional critic of the former president to the clearest voice within the GOP warning that he represents a threat to the Democratic rules. Cheney’s defeat would have been unthinkable just two years ago. The daughter of a former vice president, she comes from one of the most prominent political families in Wyoming. And in Washington, she was the No. 3 House Republican, an influential voice in GOP politics and policy with an outstanding conservative voting record. But after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Cheney voted to impeach Trump and made it her primary mission to ensure he never serves in the Oval Office again. He overcame GOP censure and death threats to serve as a leader on the congressional committee investigating Trump’s role in the insurgency. Cheney will now be forced to leave Congress at the end of her third and final term in January. He is not expected to leave Capitol Hill quietly. She will continue her leadership role on the congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack until it disbands at the end of the year. And she is actively considering a 2024 White House run — as a Republican or an independent — having vowed to do everything in her power to fight Trump’s influence in her party. It’s a one-sided fight so far. Tuesday’s primary contests in Wyoming and, to a lesser extent, Alaska demonstrated the staying power of Trump and his trademark tough politics ahead of November’s midterm elections. So far, the former president has helped install believers who parrot his conspiracy theories in general election matchups from Pennsylvania to Arizona. In Alaska, another Trump ally, former Gov. Sarah Palin, hoped to be in the national spotlight Tuesday as well. The 58-year-old 2008 vice presidential candidate has actually been on the ballot twice: once in a special election to complete the term of former Rep. Don Young and another for a full two-year House term beginning in January. On the other side of the GOP stage, a frequent Trump critic, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, had a chance to survive the former president’s wrath, even after voting to convict him in his second impeachment trial. Alaska’s top four Senate candidates, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election, where voters will rank them in order of preference. With Cheney’s defeat, the Republicans who voted to impeach Trump disappear. In all, seven Republican senators and 10 Republican members of the House backed Trump’s impeachment in the days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol as Congress tried to certify President Joe Biden’s victory. Just two of those 10 House members won their primaries this year. After two Senate exits, Murkowski remains the only such Senate Republican on this year’s ballot. In Wyoming, Cheney had been forced to seek help from the state’s tiny Democratic minority. But Democrats across America, including major donors, took note. She raised at least $15 million for her election, a staggering figure for a Wyoming political contest. But the makeup of Wyoming’s deeply Republican electorate was too much to overcome. As of August 1, 2022, there were 285,000 registered voters in Wyoming, including 40,000 Democrats and 208,000 Republicans. Trump won nearly 70% of the vote in 2016 and 2020. If Cheney ends up running for president — either as a Republican or as an independent — don’t expect her to win Wyoming’s three electoral votes. “We like Trump. He tried to impeach Trump,” Cheyenne constituent Chester Barkel said of Cheney on Tuesday. “I don’t trust Liz Cheney.” And in Jackson, Republican constituent Dan Winter said he felt betrayed by his congresswoman. “Over 70 percent of the state of Wyoming voted Republican in the last presidential election and she turned right and voted against us,” said Winter, a hotel manager. “He was our representative, not hers.” There was no sign that the FBI’s recent investigation into Trump’s Florida property played a role in Tuesday’s election. Just eight days ago, the FBI discovered 11 sets of classified files from Trump’s home. Some were labeled “sensitive apartment information,” a special category meant to protect the nation’s most important secrets. Republicans across the country initially rallied behind the former president, though reaction was somewhat mixed as more details emerged. Anti-Trump Republicans across the country cheered Cheney’s willingness to challenge Trump, even as they expressed disappointment at her loss. “What’s remarkable is that in the face of almost certain defeat he never wavered,” said Sarah Longwell, executive director of the Republican Accountability Project. “We were watching a national American figure being forged. It’s funny how small the election feels — the Wyoming election — because it feels bigger than it does now.” The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
