Wyoming’s primary election rivals Alaska’s primary for drama on Aug. 16. Polls closed in Wyoming at 5 pm Alaska time, with the nation’s eyes on Rep. Liz Cheney, who is predicted to lose to Republican Harriet Hageman, a Republican ranching attorney from Cheyenne.
Cheney is the Republican leader on the House select committee that has been investigating and subpoenaing people with knowledge of the activities leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 surge into the U.S. Capitol, as Trump supporters gathered to try to stop the certification of the presidential election.
Many Democrat voters were urged by their party leaders to switch party affiliations to Republican at the polls to vote for Cheney in the Republican primary, fearing Hageman, who has the Trump Republicans behind her. Voters in Wyoming can make a same-day switch of parties and then vote.
Cheney told reporters that democracy is under attack and under threat.
“And those of us across the board — Republicans, Democrats, and independents who believe deeply in freedom and who care about the Constitution and the future of the country — have an obligation to put that above party,” she said to reporters. But voters appear to think that it is Cheney who is the threat.
Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, his media platform, “If Liz Cheney loses tonight, the Fake News Media will do everything within their power to play it down and pretend that it was not a referendum on the Unselects – That it was no big deal. Actually, it would be a very big deal, one of the biggest!”
His term “unselects” referred to the three-term Republican congresswoman who is the vice chair of the House “select committee.”
Sixty-seven percent of Wyoming voters chose Trump in 2020, and Wyoming is by far the reddest state in the union. A University of Wyoming poll showed Cheney trailing Hageman by 29 points prior to Election Day.
This story will be updated as results are available. Check back
