Liz Cheney’s public family feud

There aren’t many winners at the end of this game show but that’s the price you pay for entering the public spotlight. As you may know, Liz Cheney, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, is running in the Republican primary in Wyoming to unseat the current Republican incumbent Senator, Mike Enzi. However, the plot has thickened when Liz Cheney recently affirmed (or reaffirmed) her belief in traditional marriage.

I’ll let Politico take it from here:

Liz Cheney took fire Sunday from her own sister and sister-in-law over her public opposition to their right to be married.

Mary Cheney and her wife, Heather Poe, went on Facebook after the Wyoming Senate candidate said on Fox News Sunday that she believes “in the traditional definition of marriage.”

“Liz — this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree, you’re just wrong — and on the wrong side of history,” Mary Cheney wrote in a note.

Heather Poe recalled in a separate note that Liz Cheney “didn’t hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us” when the two legally got hitched in Washington last year.

“Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children,” Poe wrote. “To have her now say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”

She then drew attention to the fact that Liz Cheney did not actually become a resident of Wyoming until last year.

“I can’t help but wonder how Liz would feel if as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other,” wrote Poe. “I always thought freedom meant freedom for EVERYONE.”

Cheney is challenging Sen. Mike Enzi in next year’s GOP primary. The former vice president’s daughter is the the heavy underdog.

A poll conducted for the PAC at the end of October found Cheney trailing by 52 percentage points.

On TV Sunday, Liz Cheney said the disagreement with her sister is not personal.

“I love Mary very much,” she said on Fox. “I love her family very much.”

So, what to make of this? Could Liz Cheney have handled her answer a bit differently knowing she may take some flack from within her own family?


Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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