Liz Cheney is running for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming.
The politically active daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney announced in a YouTube video Tuesday that she will run in 2014 for the Senate seat currently held by Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi.
“President Obama and his liberal allies will try to stop us every step of the way,” Cheney said. “But if we are passive, if we fail to take up this challenge, if we fail to defend our nation against these destructive policies, our very freedoms will be at risk.”
The 49-year-old Republican lawyer has served in various positions in government and recently moved to Jackson Hole with her family. Her father represented Wyoming in Congress from 1979 to 1989.
Cheney is holding press conferences in Wyoming in Casper and Cheyenne on Wednesday.
Enzi, 69, said Tuesday afternoon that he is running for re-election. He did not mention Cheney in his statement.
“I intend to run for re-election for Wyoming’s Senate seat in 2014,” he said.
Observers note that Enzi is well-liked in Wyoming, but would not be without vulnerabilities in an Enzi-Cheney battle.
In a Republican primary fight, it’s expected that Enzi could find himself criticized by conservatives for his sponsorship of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which allows states to tax online purchases.
Another potential problem that could surface in a campaign: Enzi’s son Brad’s history with stimulus funds, which Wyoming news outlets have been covering.
“In the meantime, I will do the job I was already elected to do,” Enzi said Tuesday. “My trips to Wyoming almost weekly, the public listening sessions, the groups I meet with and speak to, working behind the scenes – this is what I have been doing since I was elected and this is what needs to be done.”