Liz Cheney ad calls out opponents’ stance on the ‘Big Lie’
Voters will decide the fates of two high-profile Republicans on Tuesday as primary elections occur in Alaska and Wyoming, two of the reddest states in the country.
In Wyoming, the vice chair of the House select committee investigating January 6, Liz Cheney, faces an effort by Donald Trump to punish her for disloyalty in the form of Harriet Hageman, her former staffer and current top rival.
Ms Cheney is deep underwater in the polls, and could lose tomorrow by more than 20 points by most indications. However, she has one trick up her sleeve: Democrats, who are rallying behind her in an attempt to block another 2020 electon conspiracist from office. Wyoming has closed primaries, but voters can change their registration on the day of voting.
Meanwhile in Alaska, the state’s former governor and right-wing provocateur Sarah Palin is seeking to make a political comeback after resigning her previous office under a cloud of ethics investigations. She trailed a fellow Republican, as well as one Democrat in the race, in a poll measuring her support levels last month. Alaska has ranked-choice voting, meaning that the candidates will have to contend with both Democratic and Republican voters deciding the outcome.
Matt Gaetz: Also not a Cheney fan
Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has also taken to Twitter to mark the Wyoming primary day and the likely defeat of his foe Rep Liz Cheney.
Posting a video of a speech he gave at a small rally in the state earlier this year, the controversial Trump ally highlighted the line: “Defeat Liz Cheney, and Wyoming will bring Washington to its knees!”
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2022 19:12
Pass notes: Alaska US Senate seat primary
In addition to Liz Cheney in Wyoming, Donald Trump has also targeted US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who cast one of the few Republican votes to convict the former president in a Senate trial last year following his impeachment.
Ms Murkowski, however, appears to have a decent chance of beating her Trump-backed challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, a former state administration commissioner. Both Murkowski and Tshibaka will likely advance from today’s primary contest, which under new state rules will send four candidates to the November general election regardless of their political parties.
An early-July poll by Alaska Survey Research gave Ms Murkowski a modest lead over Ms Tshibaka and the other candidates expected to be on the ballot in November.
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2022 19:00
McCarthy calls Cheney’s primary a ‘referendum on Jan 6’
US House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has dubbed a potential defeat of Liz Cheney in the Wyoming GOP primary election to be a “referendum” on the Jan 6 committee probing the Capitol insurrection last year.
The Wyoming representative has in turn clapped back at Mr McCarthy by saying it was “really difficult to understand that word salad”.
Stuti Mishra reports for The Independent.
Kevin McCarthy calls Liz Cheney’s primary a ‘referendum on Jan 6’
Cheney claps back and says House minority leader’s criticism is ‘word salad’
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2022 18:40
Lauren Boebert: Not a Cheney fan
Unsurprisingly, Trump devotee Colorado Rep Lauren Boebert is not a fan of Rep Liz Cheney.
This morning she tweeted: “Good Morning to everyone except for Liz Cheney, who gets thrown into the trash heap of irrelevance today!”
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2022 18:28
Pass notes: Wyoming Republican Congressional Primary
Donald Trump has targeted dozens of foes within the Republican Party, with special ire for the handful of Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him last year for inciting the January 6 Capitol riot. Now his highest-profile target, Wyoming’s US Representative Liz Cheney, appears set to lose her seat.
Ms Cheney, who is facing Trump-endorsed lawyer Harriet Hageman in the Republican primary…