#Trumps #biggest #critic #party #threatened #election #defeat
Dissident Republican Liz Cheney is expected to lose her seat in the US Congress to an election-denying conspiracy theorist Tuesday, in the latest signal of her party’s rejection of traditional conservatism in favor of Donald Trump’s hard-line America First movement.
The Wyoming lawmaker, once considered Republican royalty, has become a pariah in the party for her role on the congressional body prosecuting Trump for conspiring to overthrow the last election, which culminated in the attack on the US Capitol in 2021 become.
All eyes are on the Republican primary in Wyoming, where the defeat of the 56-year-old elder daughter of Republican grandee and former Vice President Dick Cheney would spell the end of the family’s four-decade political association with one of America’s most conservative states.
Even her staunch supporters have privately accepted that Cheney is likely to lose to 59-year-old attorney Harriet Hageman – Trump’s handpicked candidate who has reinforced his bogus claims of a “rigged” 2020 election.
The latest poll from the local Casper Star-Tribune has Cheney with just 30 percent support compared to 52 percent for Hageman, reflecting all recent polls.
– ‘We will prevail’ –
But there’s already speculation that Cheney could challenge Trump for the Republican presidential nomination — or even run as an independent — in 2024, and insiders expect her to deliver a concessionary speech that will double as a launchpad for her political future.
“No matter how long we have to fight, this is a fight we will win. Millions of Americans across our country — Republicans, Democrats, Independents — stand united in the cause of liberty,” she said in a video message released earlier this weekend.
“We are stronger, more committed and more determined than those who are trying to destroy our republic. That is our major task and we will prevail.”
Cheney has portrayed her campaign as fighting for the soul of a party she is trying to save from the anti-constitutional forces of Trumpism, but it’s far from clear that the sentiment is mutual.
She is the latest of 10 House Republicans to back the former president’s second impeachment to face primary voters.
Four retired instead of running for re-election, three lost to Trump-backed opponents, and only two — California native David Valadao and Washington state’s Dan Newhouse — made it through to the November midterm elections.
More than 70 percent of Wyoming voters voted against Joe Biden for Trump in the last presidential election.
Cheney has voted in line with Trump’s positions 93 percent of the time he’s been president, but that hasn’t mitigated his retaliation for her role in the House investigation.
Trump has made Cheney his bete noire, calling her “disloyal” and a “warmonger.”
– shadow campaign –
The blond, bespectacled former attorney was made persona non grata by the Wyoming Republican Party, whose leader himself took part in protests on the day of the attack on the US Capitol.
In her state, which gave women the right to vote for the first time in 1869, the congresswoman had to conduct a kind of shadow campaign, without election rallies or public events.
Her involvement in investigations into Trump and his entourage has led to death threats, and she now travels with a police escort.
“Liz represents the voters she has in mind, and they are not Wyoming’s voters,” said Mary Martin, chairwoman of the Republican Party in Teton County — Cheney’s Wyoming base.
Bill Gonzales, 59, leans on his red motorcycle and is one of the few voters who spoke to AFP in Cheyenne to defend Cheney’s record.
“We live in the United States of America. And our elections are secure. Our elections are fair to life residents of Cheyenne.
“If Ms. Cheney wins, I guarantee a number of people will say the election was rigged,” he continued.
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