Liz Cheney gets 2022 primary challenger after voting to impeach Trump

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) will face a primary challenge in 2022 after voting last week to impeach former President Trump.

Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R) announced on Wednesday that he will challenge Cheney for Wyoming’s lone House seat, saying that his campaign was spurred on by his opponent’s “long-time opposition to President Trump and her most recent vote for Impeachment.”

“Wyoming taxpayers need a voice in Congress who will stand up to Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, and not give them cover,” Bouchard said in a statement. “That’s why I’m running for Congress.”

Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, has faced backlash from within her own party since she joined nine other House Republicans last week in voting to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

Since then, more than 100 House Republicans — more than half of the caucus’s members — have committed to an effort to remove Cheney from her role as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.

Cheney’s vote has not only landed her in hot water in Washington, but in her home state as well. The Wyoming GOP issued an unusual condemnation of Cheney’s actions after the impeachment vote last week, releasing a point-by-point criticism of her vote. 

“We as a Party respect our elected officials and assume that they will respect and represent their constituents,” the party said in a statement. “We are receiving the message loud and clear that what happened yesterday is a true travesty for Wyoming and the country.”

Cheney and her family name carry weight in Wyoming. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, represented the state in the House for a decade, from 1979 to 1989. Liz Cheney also won reelection in November by more than 44 points, even slightly overperforming Trump’s margin of victory in the state.

Still, Wyoming handed Trump his largest margin of victory of any state in November, and the former president remains influential among a base of ultra-loyal supporters that could seek to punish Cheney for her impeachment vote.

In announcing his House bid on Wednesday, Bouchard suggested that he would hitch himself closely to Trump, referencing the former president multiple times.

“Wyoming was President Trump’s best state both times he ran,” Bouchard said. “That’s because Wyoming voters are strong conservatives who want our leaders to stand up for America, defend our freedoms, fight for our way of life and always put working people first as President Trump did.”

–Updated at 3:04 p.m.