It’s barely a news headline, right? Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was supposed to lose her Republican primary to challenger Harriet Hageman, and she did.
We don’t yet know the exact margin but as of 9:51 pm ET, here are the results when the race was called:
At the moment, only DecisionDeskHQ has called it for Hageman while others will be waiting a while longer on the Associated Press. You can follow the results from CNN here if you want to see the AP numbers, or follow the DecisionDeskHQ numbers over at Townhall.
Decision Desk HQ projects Harriet Hageman (@HagemanforWY) is the winner of the Republican nomination for Wyoming's at-large U.S. House congressional district. She has defeated incumbent Rep Liz Cheney (R).#DecisionMade: 9:27pm EDT
More results here: https://t.co/lXPOtTvdbv
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) August 17, 2022
Here’s the full bit of Liz Cheney’s concession speech:
Here’s a clip from Harriet Hageman’s victory speech:
The story here is less about the Cheney loss and more of the continuation of former President Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party. Cheney reached out to Democrats and had just about every establishment voice in her column, she more than doubled the fundraising of Hageman yet still couldn’t move the needle in her favor.
The kamikaze mission Cheney has been on started last year with her vote to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building. Since that time, with her work on the January 6th committee, a one-sided Democratic Party campaign commercial of Trump-bashing and blaming, Cheney threw aside any allegiance she had to her own voters.
What’s next for Cheney? Signs point to ongoing involvement in politics and a potential 2024 presidential run for some inexplicable reason.
That is, maybe only if Donald Trump decides to run for president again as well:
political strategist Terry Sullivan, who managed the Republican senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, regarded Cheney’s defeat on Tuesday as a “foregone conclusion”, as part of a larger battle.
“Liz Cheney isn’t fighting for re-election – she’s fighting for the direction of the Republican party,” he told Reuters, noting that some observers have discussed whether Cheney should mount a presidential campaign in 2024.
“It’s more of a kind of a beginning, not an end.”
It’s the beginning of Cheney’s next chapter, that’s what her supporters will say. It’s hard to see that chapter playing out somewhere in the Republican Party.
Even without Donald Trump, there are far brighter stars like Ron DeSantis, for example, than choosing someone else from the Bush-Cheney wing of the party.
Liz Cheney’s brand of establishment Republican country-club politics is not where the GOP is at this point in history. Republican voters want results and they want a staunch fighter against left-wing progressive policies whether it’s over the economy or cultural issues like indoctrinating children with transgenderism in public schools.
Liz Cheney is not near the heartbeat of the GOP in 2022. She tossed that aside when she threw in with Democrats and joined the Trump resistance after Jan. 6, 2021.
Congratulations to Harriet Hageman, Wyoming’s next at-large Congressional representative (once Hageman wins in November against her token Democratic challenger).
Update
CNN and others, including Fox News, have all called the race for Hageman. The margin has increased substantially to well over a 30-point defeat for Cheney.
Former President Donald Trump sent out a note on Truth Social congratulating Hageman:
Congratulations to Harriet Hageman on her great and very decisive WIN in Wyoming. This is a wonderful result for America, and a complete rebuke of the Unselect Committee of political Hacks and Thugs. Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others. Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!
More as this story develops . . .
