It may be the age of Donald Trump in the Republican Party. But a Cheney is likely headed to Congress next year.
Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, won a crowded Republican primary for Wyoming’s sole seat in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. It’s the same seat her father once held.
Cheney won with nearly 40 percent of the vote. Rivals Leland Christensen won 22 percent, Tim Stubson won 18 percent and Darin Smith won 15.3 percent.
Cheney will face Democrat Ryan Greene in the general election, but the state is reliably Republican and a Democrat hasn’t represented the state in Congress since 1976.
The current occupant, Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis, is retiring.
Cheney had a significant endorsement and money advantage over her primary opponents: donors included her father, former President George W. Bush, Bush aide Karl Rove and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. She was also supported by former Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson and the Casper Star Tribune, the state’s widest circulated newspaper.
Cheney, a former Fox News contributor, also has been backed by conservative radio talkers, including Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Hugh Hewitt.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, however, who has sparred over the years with the Cheneys, campaigned for Christensen, a Republican state senator, over Cheney in the race.