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Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) campaign has found support among the famous, wealthy, and well-connected uniparty in the weeks leading to the August 16 primary against Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman.
It seems the more likely it is that Cheney will lose on August 16, the more her campaign finds itself buoyed by the establishment. According to the polls, Cheney is at least 30 points behind Hageman among Wyoming voters. But by the show of support among the political elites, one may believe Cheney is leading by 30 points. The political elites are likely coming to the aid of Cheney because Cheney’s chances of winning the GOP primary are only 5 cents on the dollar, PredictIt odds show. Hageman’s chances of defeating Cheney are 95 cents on the dollar.
While Cheney has been working the spotlight on the partisan January 6 Committee, hundreds of miles away from Wyoming voters, she has won support and donations from the rich and famous. They include actor Kevin Costner, director Gary Ross of “The Hunger Games,” producer of “Friends” Kevin Bright, and studio mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Cheney has won donations from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton donors. She also received more donations from the state of California than any other state, including Wyoming. “More than 1,100 Californians contributed nearly a tenth of the $13 million Cheney raised through June 30 for her reelection campaign,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “In that period, she received donations from just over 200 Wyoming residents, totaling more than $260,000.”
FILE – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, June 29, 2022, in Simi Valley, Calif. Cheney’s unrelenting criticism of former President Donald Trump from a Capitol Hill committee room represents the centerpiece of an unconventional campaign strategy that may well lead to her political demise, at least in the short term. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dmitri Mehlhorn, a strategist who advises far-left LinkedIn co-founder and Democrat donor Reid Hoffman, has supported Cheney’s reelection bid. “Cheney is the most important politician in America right now,” Mehlhorn alleged to the New York Times. Additional Democrat donors include Google executive Vint Cerf, Jane Fraser, the chief executive of Citigroup, and Boston-based billionaire hedge fund manager Seth Klarman, who views himself more aligned with the establishment.
Cheney has invited the support of the rich and famous. She has requested Democrats vote for her. She has allied herself with a Democrat-oriented ad agency to turn out the vote. She sits on the January 6 Committee to help Democrats keep the spotlight on Trump and away from inflation, recession, and high gas prices.
The congresswoman professes to be a Republican. Yet the Wyoming Republican Party has “excommunicated” Cheney from the state by no longer recognizing her as a Republican. Cheney has lost the support of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who have endorsed Hageman.
“After spending time with Harriet, it is readily apparent she will always listen and prioritize the needs of her local communities and is focused on tackling our nation’s biggest problems,” McCarthy told the Federalist in February. “I look forward to serving with Harriet for years to come.”
Many Wyoming voters identify with McCarthy. Some are wondering if Cheney has lost her mind. “I sit there watching the January 6 hearings and I think: ‘Have you lost your mind?’” one voter told the Financial Times. “This man [Trump] has every major institution going after him, from the media to the swamp in Washington, DC, and now to have one of his own party do the same thing?”
Over the weekend, voters issued their frustrations with Cheney on CNN. “Can I cuss?” one voter responded when asked about Cheney’s role on the partisan committee. “She’s done us dirty,” the voter explained. “Look at how she’s done Trump. I’m a Trump fan.”
In 2020, former President Donald Trump won about 70 percent of the vote in Wyoming. “She’s supposed to be supporting him,” the voter added. “She’s a Republican, for crying out loud.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
