Wyoming Voters Deal Lopsided Loss to Cheney

Harriet Hageman wins the state’s lone House seat following Donald Trump’s full-court press against Liz Cheney.

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Liz Cheney’s tenure as Wyoming’s lone, at-large member of Congress will soon come to an end. Shortly after polls closed at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, it became clear that Cheney would lose by well more than 30 points to her Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman.

Jim King, who has taught political science at the University of Wyoming since 1992, was not surprised.

“Trump definitely brought many Wyomingites to his side while in office,” he told The Dispatch.

For most of her career, Cheney was considered a rock-ribbed Republican with the pedigree and voting record to prove it. Her father, Dick Cheney, once held her same seat in Congress before going on to eventually become George W. Bush’s vice president. Liz Cheney supported both of Donald Trump’s presidential bids, but her votes to certify the 2020 election results and impeach Trump in the aftermath of the January 6 storming of the Capitol turned Republicans in Wyoming and across the country against her. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Liz. Cheney is an American patriot and perhaps even a hero. She sacrificed her seat for principle.

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    Kevin M. James

    "...a mysterious figure with a Black Lives Matter mask 'was telling him to move forward onto the Capitol steps'..."

    And so this guy and the other ultra-Trump rioters moved forward just like the BLM person said because...?

    Are these people not even listening to what they're themselves saying?

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    1. Tamara Fisher

      It’s so ridiculous. (And it’s not like it isn’t all on video too).

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        Kevin M. James

        Ah...but that's just what they *want* you to think, isn't it?

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  3. Joe1776

    “I could easily have done the same again. The path was clear. But it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election. It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not and would not take.”

    She did not need to go along with his lie to simply get re-elected. Nor did she need to unravel our democratic process or attack the foundations of our republic. Many republicans can and will win elections without doing that.

    In the end I think she chose to make her hatred of Trump the center of her public messaging even after he was gone. She chose to make her campaign about personalities rather than issues. I think many republicans are sympathetic to her views but, especially after he lost the election, felt the focus on continuing to attack Trump is no longer in line with their own priorities.

    Ironically much of what she and other Trump haters are doing is just making Trump more popular. He will gladly amplify her message that it was because she crossed him that she was voted out of office. Cheney and Trump both emphasize the worst message. They both act like it is not only healthy, but vital, for the republican party to obsess over Trump and force everyone to either declare their love or hatred of Trump. When in fact it is healthy and maybe even vital to let Trump fade away into irrelevance.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    If you think of politics only in binary terms, you rarely win. Good politicians build coalitions. Among Republicans, a good many want Trump to go, they want a fresh face in 2024. But a sizable minority are Trump loyalists. So whoever wants to run in 2024 has to build common cause with both groups. It can be done, Youngkin did in in VA. But it takes a good message, and a clever politician.

    I'm not sure that's Liz Cheney. But she'll do fine, and she'll monetize her fame effectively.

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    Greg Williams

    Voting based on party is and always has been an abdication of one's responsibility as a citizen. All voters really have to do in order to fulfill their duty to our republic is spend and hour or less doing credible research into each candidates' voting record, positions and character, then vote accordingly without respect to party. For a busy ballot in most district that won't require more than an afternoon of a person's time. If we can't justify that small price for our freedom we dishonor all those who have sacrificed so much to sustain it for us.

    "...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”

    The people, not the party.

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    Marc Frischhertz

    There is too much focus on the lack of integrity of Trump and his enablers and not enough on the horrible human being that vote for them. In America, I firmly believe that we get what we deserve when it comes to politicians. It needs to be said that the majority of republican voters in this country are emotionally immature, vengeful, ignorant fools who are destroying the character of this country.

    They are to blame. They have looked long in the mirror and become the monster. Nearly every bad quality they ascribe to their “enemies” they possess themselves. The lack of analytical reasoning they display is unrivaled. Most on display is their willingness to suspend their disbelief and accept lie after lie in pursuit of owning the libs.

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    1. Maddmac

      100% Marc. I don't mean to be an a-hole about my fellow countrymen, but so many people in this country have zero critical thinking skills, and don't understand the basics of how our government works - on top of everything you just stated.

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        Marc Frischhertz

        I have thought this for a while, we (humans) are not capable of properly processing and filtering all of the information that the internet has placed at our finger tips.

        We have access to the collective knowledge of human history, but also all the lies and misinformation that can be created for political, economic and other reasons. The average person simply cannot separate the true from the false. What then happens is we psychologically are attracted to the familiar, the comfortable, and the self preserving.

        In a strange way, Americans were better informed when information was filtered through media sources than when all the information (true and false) is at our finger tips. We now have been access, but are incapable of determining what is trustworthy.

        Grifters have come in to take advantage. Political grifters. Economic grifters selling lies whether its survival seeds, pills, or false information they are selling.

        We were told for years don’t trust CNN or MSM, but now we as a society are left to pick who to trust. This has the likes of Alex Jones making 800k per day spinning lies for profit.

        The destruction it is causing it tremendous. Churches have turned to the tactic because the money is too temping. And the long term credibility of religion is suffering

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    Dpatricola

    Liz Cheney, like Adam Kinzinger, define what courage truly is. Not only did they vote to impeach The Great Orange (Charlie Brown) but added their voices and weight to the Jan. 6 panel against the wishes of their party leaders.

    I will forever be grateful for their contribution to keep country above party.

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    JR

    "[Hageman] has repeated the baseless claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Trump."

    Is it just me? I don't need the word "baseless" in that sentence.

    I know the claim is baseless. I'm on board. But for some reason, whenever I read "baseless" (or "lies" or similar words) in news stories, I feel like I'm being lectured to.

    And it's not as if repeated use of such words will convince anyone who has bought into Trump's scam.

    Or will it? It would be nice, but I ... have my doubts.

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    Kmregan7

    Man...I mean, it's not a surprise exactly. I was, however, really hoping it would be a surprise and she'd pull out a win. I do look forward to seeing how she moves forward.

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    Pat Riot

    Can we now please stop it with the, "let's just vote for good, conservative, anti-Trump Republicans who will restore the dignity to the party" claptrap?

    The GOP is Trump's party. A vote for any Republican at the federal level and most at the state level is a vote for giving Trump more power.

    A Republican win in November will be *Trump's* win. Tell your friends to vote accordingly.

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    1. mle

      I maintain my Republican status so that I can vote in the primary for the "normals." (I live in a state where you must be registered to a party to participate in the primaries.) I still firmly believe that our nation needs two strong and sane parties, and the third party option right now isn't realistic (plus, Andrew Yang? Really?). However, come November, you'd better believe that I refuse to vote for any election deniers/QAnon/MAGA types and will likely have to throw my support behind the Democrats.

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      1. Seth

        Absolutely! The best course for sane conservatives is to make an even stronger effort to vote for good candidates in the Republican primary, and then reassess and vote for the best candidate in the general election. If all the moderate and non-MAGA Republicans sit out the primary process, that's just going to give the nuttos even more influence.

        I think we should all be working harder to address the structural incentives for the crazy extremes on both sides, though (get rid of partisan primaries, fight gerrymandering, reform campaign finance so it's not so focused on generating angry small donors, etc).

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        1. Avatar photo
          Ed P

          I think that strategy still had legs 4 years ago, maybe.

          The Republican party now clearly punishes everyone who does not play along with Trump’s big lie meant to justify theft of executive power. Wake up.

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      JDW

      Look. Many anti-Trump Republicans are also very conservative. My joke for years has been until they are dynamiting the foundations of the new deal my work is not done. The idea of total Democrat rule is anathema to me. We are drowning in social programs. So yes while this madness has infected the Republican party, I will vote strategically. I want to keep both parties from getting complete power. Any open and avowed conspiracy theorist of course won't get my vote nor will Trump. The idea of just handing over the nation to the Democrats though is not acceptable at any level for me.

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        Pat Riot

        Insofar as our country is a constitutional republic, we don't have "total rule" by any political party, we have a democracy with purple districts and things being held up by the Joe Manchin's of the Democrats. And we have an opposing party that will be forced to *change* in order to re-gain its majorities.

        Making a party *win* an election cycle is the opposite of what you do if you want it to change.

        Trump's GOP represents the end of democracy in the USA. Not "like" the end of democracy. Not crying wolf about it this time (like Democrats did for decades), but the REAL actual end of democracy lead by a demagogue.

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          JDW

          I agree Trump did try. The threat was far more he'd steal an election though than that he would set himself up as a dictator like Putin. We aren't that far gone yet. If he did set himself up as dictator, I'd expect a US Navy Tomahawk cruise missile to go right in the window of his office.

          You do realize even in the cesspool of his staff there were so many opposed to him. Maybe read a few of those books. If Trump tried for ultimate power, he was going to have a fight on his hands. Generals were going to refuse orders. So would various branches of the government. So it could have gotten real ugly and any such move would of course lead to bloodshed in the streets.

          But before you think long term, that all Republicans would go along with Trump in a coup keep in mind a few things. All of the Republicans that really could have achieved the steal refused to do so. Only those politicos who were on the sidelines were kow towing. Mike Pence refused. Raffensberger refused. Not a single Republican poll worker to date will say there was fraud in their polling stations. We have some loud mouth agitators who are dangerous but as the "coup" got more serious you'd see fewer and fewer people go along with it.

          I voted against Trump. Right now, I will vote to keep any party from total power. A lot of Trump's endorsed candidates are going to lose in purple districts. These are the super Trumpy ones. Those who choose to not speak out against Trump but are not outspoken will likely win.

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          1. Maddmac

            Don't take this the wrong way John, I'm sure you are a great person. I am sure of it. However, when I hear/see folks like you say, "the guardrails held!" - in a twisted way, I wouldn't mind Trump winning again in 2024 just to say "told ya so"

            I am beyond being assured that with all of these election deniers winning in state and local levels, that the guardrails will hold up in the near future.

            If this is the case, the thing we don't want to happen needs to happen just to prove it can. And then it's probably too late.

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          2. Joe

            It seems like you have not been paying attention to what is happening in the Republican Party since January 6th. Donald Trump has only increased his influence since then. More and more Republicans are finding creative ways to justify what Trump did in the lead up to and on January 6th. We are seeing insane people like Majorie Taylor Greene gain greater and greater influence within the party. The vast majority of those who supported impeachment are either retiring or lost their primaries to people who are on the record as supporting the coup attempt. The Arizona GOP has gone full into the Big Lie. I could go on.

            In a second Trump term you won’t see people like Miles Taylor working in a Trump Administration. You will see top WH and Administration positions filled by the likes of Michael Flynn, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, and John McEntee. Axios reported on how towards the end of Trump’s first term he signed a “Schedule F” executive order that would lead to a purge of all Trump loyalists. Trump loyalists are currently working on a similar plan to be implemented in the early days of a new Trump Administration to purge all non-Trump loyalists and have an extensive database of Trump loyalists ready to replace them with. And I can guarantee you Mike Pence will not be Trump’s VP in a second term. He simply isn’t loyal enough.

            You can also bet that such a purge would also happen in the military. Trump wants generals and other officers who will be loyal to him. That will carry out whatever order he gives them, regardless of how illegal or immoral those orders are. He wants a military that will impose his will on the country. With Mike Flynn as Secretary of Defense and some other lackey as Secretary of Homeland Security we can’t rule out the creation of a paramilitary secret police force to be used to go after any and all political opponents. When Trump seeks to claim dictatorship for life there will be no internal resistance.

            Like you, I am conservative and I am terrified of total Democratic control of the government. But the Republican Party is diseased and has been fully corrupted. Voting for Republicans this November is akin to voting for secessionists in 1866. Voting for Trump in 2024 is no different than voting for Jefferson Davis for President of the United States in 1868.

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            VladimusPrime

            Right, in his first attempt there were people who refused to go along, and those people are now being systematically removed from the party and replaced with people who either have been untested or are actively proclaiming their willingness to go along with the the Big Lie and overthrow of the election next time. But, hey we can't have dysfunctional Democratic social and economic policies like we have been having for the last 80 years now because we are conservatives. And so instead of accepting bad policy we are going to risk the whole nation and liberal order of our country on the honor and sanity of a political party that with every election is working harder and harder to expunge itself of both. Because a 20% tax raise is as fundamental a danger to the the Country as a whole political party that doesn't believe in free elections.

            This is pure madness.

            "It profits a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his soul, but for Wales?"

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            Deb4711

            Thank you for that well-argued corrective to anti-Trump hysteria. He is indeed a threat to our democratic institutions, but we are very far from becoming a dictatorship, and you did a good job explaining why.

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