House

Cheney says she won’t vote for Trump-backed Hageman after primary loss

by Julia Shapero - 09/24/22 9:30 PM ET

Associated Press/Jae C. Hong
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, at a primary Election Day gathering at Mead Ranch in Jackson, Wyo. Cheney lost to challenger Harriet Hageman in the primary.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on Saturday that she will not vote for Harriet Hageman, the Republican nominee for Wyoming’s at-large House seat, in November’s election.

Hageman, who was endorsed by former President Trump, defeated Cheney in the state’s Republican primary in August.

“She’s sworn an oath to the Constitution as a member of the Wyoming State Bar,” Cheney told Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith at the paper’s 2022 festival. “And she continues to make the assertion that somehow the 2020 election was stolen. … I know that she knows better.”

“There are many people around this country who are making claims they know not to be true, and I don’t think anybody should vote for any of them,” she added.

The congresswoman pointed to Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona, as an example of another “dangerous” candidate that has denied the results of the 2020 election. Cheney said she will do everything she can to ensure that Lake is not elected, including campaigning with Democrats.

“In this election you have to vote for the person who actually believes in democracy,” she said. “And that is just crucial, because if we elect election deniers, if we elect people who said that they’re not going to certify results or who are going to try to steal elections, then we really are putting the Republic at risk.”