Liz Cheney Suffers Big Loss To Trump Backed Candidate Harriet Hageman In Wyoming GOP Straw Poll
Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney suffered a big loss in a key secret ballot straw poll in Wyoming to her Trump-endorsed challenger. Harriet Hageman, a former Cheney friend who is working with Donald Trump to unseat Cheney, won the straw poll of House candidates held by the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee over the weekend.
And in a bad sign for Cheney, it wasn’t even close. The secret ballot of party activists gave Hageman 59 votes, Cheney six, state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, two and Denton Knapp one.
The GOP primary is in eight months and without support from party activists, it will be hard to win or generate energy for a campaign. “I think it’s a good sign. It’s not an endorsement, but these are the county activists” Hageman said.
“There will be lots of polls over the next eight months, and they will all show different things,” she added.
“The only elections that matter are in August and November,” Jeremy Adler, a spokesperson for the Cheney campaign said.
The state party itself is not statutorily allowed to endorse a candidate in the primary.
The state central committee consists of three representatives from each county and members of the state party, for a total of 74 votes. Only 71, including three of Hageman’s family members, voted Saturday. The bearing of the vote on the outcome of the August primary is uncertain: There are 196,179 registered Republican voters in Wyoming as of January.
The straw poll is a indication of current party leadership’s views, not the state as a whole. Straw polls, even with a far higher number of voters, do not have an accurate track record in Wyoming in recent years.
From Breitbart:
Last year, the Wyoming Republican Party also voted to no longer recognize Cheney as a member of the GOP.
During an exclusive interview on Breitbart News Saturday, Hageman said that Cheney has been using her seat to pursue a political vendetta against Trump instead of focusing on representing the people of Wyoming.
She added, “Liz Cheney has lost Wyoming. Liz Cheney doesn’t live in Wyoming. She doesn’t represent us. She doesn’t represent our values.”
Republican voters in Wyoming are sick and tired of being represented by a Pelosi puppet like Liz Cheney.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 23, 2022
Harriet Hageman wins big in congressional straw poll held by Wyoming GOP activistshttps://t.co/sKf6NVsrGF