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Cheney Trails Trump-Backed GOP Challenger, Turning To Dems To Help Save Her

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is trailing in the polls to a Donald Trump-backed GOP primary candidate and has turned to Democrats for help.

“Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is turning to the same rare species in Wyoming — Democrats — to save her House seat. And Trumpist Republicans are doing everything in their power to thwart her,” Politico reported.

Politico added:

The turnabout for Cheney — one of the more unlikely twists in Republican politics in recent years, in a party that’s had no shortage of them — will come into sharp relief next week at a gathering at Jackson’s Center for the Arts. Cheney will speak on a bipartisan panel about defending elections, addressing what should be a welcoming audience amid her running battle with former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 sacking of the Capitol.

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What Cheney doesn’t know — until now — is that a band of Trump-loving Republicans will be on hand to greet her. They snapped up roughly a quarter of the 350 tickets, at $10 apiece, to give the embattled congresswoman a piece of their minds.

“I was here when the … Democrats dragged her father’s effigy down a village road behind a truck at one of their rallies, and those are the people who are supporting her now, that she’s embraced,” an angry Rebecca Cloetta, 66, said over breakfast at a greasy spoon called the Virginian.

“Can you believe it? Charging for a ticket! It’s a slap in the face,” said Rebecca Bextel, 41, another Trump-backing Republican planning to attend the voting event. “We have one person representing us” — Wyoming has a single House member — “and she shows up in town and it costs $10 to see her. It’s embarrassing.

“She is not,” Bextel vowed, “going to get reelected.”

Politico notes that “it’s apparent that Republicans in Wyoming — which voted for Trump over Joe Biden, 70 to 27 percent, in 2020 — have turned against Cheney en masse.”

Recent polling found that Cheney is underwater big time versus Trump-backed Harriet Hageman in the Wyoming GOP primary.

According to a SoCo Strategies poll conducted to gauge the impact of Trump endorsements, Cheney is 18-points behind Hageman.

The new survey of Republican voters found that Hageman, a GOP activist, and Cheyenne land and water rights attorney, leads Cheney, 38%-18%. State Representative Anthony Bouchard is at 12% and 26% are undecided.

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The independent survey — not done for Cheney or Hageman — was included in a handful of other state results showing that a Trump endorsement can be a game-changer.

“The only 2022 Wyoming House Race Polls that have been carried out were carried out before Trump endorsed Harriet Hageman so they are not in sync with present conditions, but they do give us a glimpse into the amount of disillusionment Wyoming Republicans have with Liz Cheney for her vote to impeach Trump. Cheney does not cross 23% in any poll, which already spells trouble for an incumbent with statewide name recognition,” Crowds Wisdom reported.

In a September statement, Trump said he is backing Hageman, whom he said “is running against warmonger and disloyal Republican” Cheney.

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“Harriet is a fourth-generation daughter of Wyoming, a very successful attorney, and has the support and respect of a truly great U.S. Senator, Wyoming’s own Cynthia Lummis,” Trump continued.

“Harriet Hageman adores the Great State of Wyoming, is strong on Crime and Borders, powerfully supports the Second Amendment, loves our Military and our Vets, and will fight for Election Integrity and Energy Independence (which [President Joe] Biden has already given up),” he added.

“Unlike RINO Liz Cheney, Harriet is all in for America First. Harriet has my Complete and Total Endorsement in replacing the Democrats’ number one provider of sound bites, Liz Cheney. Make America Great Again!” the former president concluded.

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