Liz Cheney unapologetic at primary debate as polls show 30 point deficit

Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is fighting to keep her congressional seat in a primary race that polls show she’s losing by a lot. But as seen in a debate Thursday night, Cheney is not budging from her actions that got her into trouble in her home state – voting to impeach former President Donald Trump and serving as the vice chair on the Jan. 6 investigative committee.

During her closing remarks, Cheney said it’s been a great honor being Wyoming’s Representative for the last five and a half years but that her loyalty and first priority will always be to the U.S. Constitution over the Republican Party.

“In Wyoming we ride for the brand, and our brand is the United States Constitution,” Rep. Cheney said. “So I’m asking for your vote and I’m asking you to understand that I will never violate my oath of office. And if you’re looking for somebody who will, then you need to vote for somebody else on this stage.”

Two polls show Cheney is down by about 30 points to her leading rival, attorney Harriet Hageman, who is endorsed by former President Trump. One poll from Fabrizio, Lee and Associates puts Cheney at 28% to Hageman’s 56%. Another poll from the Club for Growth puts Hageman at 56% over Cheney at 26%. Both polls were funded by Hageman-backed groups.

Hageman said she is better prepared than Cheney to fight for issues specific to a mountain west state like Wyoming, including ranching, minerals and property and water rights.

“She doesn’t come here to talk to us to explain her vote, to defend the decisions that she’s making. She focuses an awful lot of time on the January 6th committee, but she’s not addressing the issues that are important to Wyoming,” Hageman said during her closing remarks.

Both campaigns are smashing fundraising records. In the first three months of this year, Cheney raised $2.9 million dollars and Hageman raised $1.3 million. Hageman also has financial backing from Trump and billionaire Paypal founder Peter Thiel.

While Cheney has received a chilly reception in her home state of Wyoming, the crowd at the Reagan Library on Wednesday gave her a very warm standing ovation. Cheney gave a speech on the state of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. She was invited to take part in a speaker series called “A Time for Choosing.” The library’s leadership team introduced Cheney by talking about the 40th president’s willingness to stand up to a sitting president and buck party leadership if it was best for the country.

“Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution,” Cheney said.

Other speakers in the series include former Vice President Mike Pence and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who have both said Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being “stolen” were wrong.