Democrats Are Liz Cheney's Only Hope in Wyoming Primary

What will become of Rep. Liz Cheney on Tuesday when Wyomingites vote in the primary for the state’s sole congressional seat? If polls are any indication, she will be trounced by Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. Then again, according to Washington Post’s Paul Kane, this Wyoming primary may prove to be unlike any other. That’s because Cheney’s only path to victory lies in the remote hope that tens of thousands of Democrats will cross over and vote in the GOP primary. Many Democrats have done exactly that, and the dynamic has made for some surreal political gatherings, like one recent high-profile Cheney fundraiser where Democrats outnumbered Republicans.

Still, it’s safe to assume Cheney is thinking beyond Congress, Kane writes. And while there is chatter about 2024, "Cheney is clear-eyed when it comes to her chances of actually winning the presidential nomination in a party that is still so loyal to former president Donald Trump." Nevertheless, Cheney will likely continue testing those waters in months to come—meeting donors, riding the media circuit, and perhaps launching an anti-Trump political organization—not because she has any hope of winning but because she is so singularly determined to make sure Trump retains the "former president" title.

Cheney certainly has the support of a certain former VP, who opened a recent campaign ad for his daughter by saying "there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump." In her own last-minute appeal to voters, Rep. Cheney said "America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth" and focused her entire message on the "great task" of preserving the republic, a clear signal of where she intends to focus her energy, regardless of Tuesday’s outcome. As CNN’s Jodi Enda notes, Cheney will again garner national attention during Round 2 of the Jan. 6 hearings in September. Enda also notes that—while Cheney is indeed an avowed democracy-lover—she remains a "rock-ribbed" conservative who voted with Trump 93% of the time and rarely goes along with Democrats. (More Liz Cheney stories.)