(National Review) Trump-backed Harriet Hageman defeated incumbent Representative Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s only U.S. House seat on Tuesday, according to projections by NBC News and CNN.
Cheney conceded to Hageman on Tuesday evening, saying in a speech: “This primary election is over, but now the real work begins.”
“Two years ago, I won this primary with 73 percent of the vote,” Cheney said. “I could easily have done the same again, the path was clear, but it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the election…that was a path I could not and would not take.”
“No House seat, no office in this land is more important than the principles that we are all sworn to protect,” she added. “And I well understood the potential political consequences of abiding by my duty our republic relies upon the goodwill of all candidates for office. To accept, honorably, the outcome of elections.”
Cheney’s defeat was all but certain; one University of Wyoming poll ahead of the election showed Hageman leading Cheney by 30 points.
With an estimated 40 percent of the vote reported on Tuesday evening, Hageman leads Cheney 63 percent to 33 percent.
Cheney’s vocal criticism of former president Donald Trump — including her vote in favor of his impeachment over the Capitol riot and her role as vice-chair for the House committee investigating January 6 — unsurprisingly did not play well politically in a state that voted 70 percent for the former president in 2020.
