Rep. Liz Cheney has lost the Wyoming primary for her seat in Congress to conservative lawyer Harriet Hageman.
The primary was being closely watched as Cheney has been one of the Republican Party’s most outspoken opponents of former President Donald Trump.
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
Trump strongly endorsed Hageman and stumped for her at rallies in the state.
Speaking to the press outside of a polling location earlier in the day, Cheney claimed that no matter which way the race went, it was “the beginning of a battle.”
“No matter what the outcome, it is certainly the beginning of a battle that is gonna continue and is going to go on, and as a country, we’re facing very challenging and difficult times. We are facing a moment where our democracy really is under attack and under threat,” Cheney told CBS on election day.
The Cheneys appear in Jackson@CBSNews exclusive pic.twitter.com/EY3qj1cLoE
— Robert Costa (@costareports) August 16, 2022
“And those of us across the board — Republicans, Democrats and independents — who believe deeply in freedom and who care about the Constitution and the future of the country, I think have an obligation to put that above party and, I think that fight is clearly going to continue and clearly going to go on,” she continued.
The Wyoming Republican Party voted to formally censure Cheney in February 2021 over her vote to impeach the former president. Roughly nine months later, the state party voted to no longer recognize her as a Republican at all.
Cheney was also removed from her role as conference chair in DC.
Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later made Cheney the vice chair of the House Committee Investigating January 6.
Throughout her political career, Cheney has championed similar hawkish neoconservative policy positions as her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney — including championing the Iraq War and pushing for regime change in Iran.
Cheney has also been outspoken about her support for torture, consistently defending the use of waterboarding as an interrogation method for over a decade and a half.
A University of Wyoming poll released a week before the primary election showed Hageman leading by 29 points.
