Could Liz Cheney cost Republicans a surefire Senate seat?
Half of the state thinks she's a carpetbagger


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Liz Cheney launched a loud, aggressive campaign for Senate last week, announcing she would take on Wyoming's incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi in a Republican primary contest because it was "necessary for a new generation of leaders to step up to the plate."
Unfortunately for Cheney and her party, that might mean sending a Democratic senator to Washington for the first time in a half century.
Should Cheney win the primary, she would risk losing a general election campaign against former Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal, according to a PPP poll released Tuesday. The telephone survey of 1,203 registered Wyoming voters showed Cheney trailing Freudenthal by a 45 percent to 42 percent margin.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Enzi, meanwhile, led Freudenthal by a robust 54 percent to 31 percent. He led other potential challengers by similar margins.
Cheney's problem, which has already been made clear in ample anecdotal evidence, is her perceived outsider status.
In the survey, only 33 percent of voters said they had a favorable opinion of her, versus 43 percent who said the opposite. Moreover, a 50 percent majority said Cheney was not a true Wyomingite, while the same percent said it would be "more appropriate" for her to run for Senate in Virginia than in Wyoming.
Even Republicans were skeptical of Cheney, splitting evenly at 40 percent over whether she was or was not a Wyomingite. Forty percent of GOP voters also said she should run for Senate in Virginia, slightly more than the 37 percent who said she should run in Wyoming.
Weeks ago, former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson (R) warned that a Cheney campaign would result in "the destruction of the Republican Party of Wyoming."
"It's a disaster — a divisive, ugly situation — and all it does is open the door for the Democrats for 20 years," he told the New York Times.
While that prediction was a bit apocalyptic, a Cheney nomination could at least risk handing one Senate seat to Democrats for the next six years.
The good news for Republicans? The same PPP poll showed Cheney getting blown out by Enzi in a primary contest, trailing the incumbent by a 54 percent to 26 percent margin. That's roughly in line with a Harper Polling survey released last week that showed her down 55 percent to 21 percent.
Plus, even if Cheney does win the primary, it's possible Republicans will soften their opposition to her, if only to keep one of their own in Washington.
Wyoming is the second-most conservative state in the nation, according to a February Gallup survey. Enzi won re-election with a staggering 75 percent of the vote in 2008, and his colleague, Sen. John Barrasso (R), accomplished the same feat last year. Even Mitt Romney took 69 percent of the vote in 2012, so it's hard to imagine Cheney prompting a revolt so strong it wipes out that enormous edge and gives a Senate seat to Democrats — especially in a year when Republicans have a good shot to retake control of the Senate.
Still, it's clear that her attempt to bully a well-respected legislator out of office does not sit well with many Wyoming voters.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
Dianne Feinstein, history-making Democratic US senator, dies at 90
The Explainer Her colleagues celebrate her legacy as a trailblazer who cleared the path for other women to follow
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Why is the government on the brink of a shutdown?
Today's Big Question GOP infighting is bringing the country to a standstill, but even Republicans aren't entirely sure why
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Today’s political cartoons — September 29, 2023
Friday's cartoons - Biden's dog bite incident, the government shutdown and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
Dianne Feinstein, history-making Democratic US senator, dies at 90
The Explainer Her colleagues celebrate her legacy as a trailblazer who cleared the path for other women to follow
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Will the cannabis banking bill get the Senate's green light?
Talking Point The SAFER Banking Act is advancing to the US Senate for the first time, clearing a major hurdle for legal cannabis businesses. Does it stand a chance?
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries chosen to succeed Pelosi as leader of House Democrats
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker may really be in peril
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Are China's protests a real threat for Beijing?
opinion The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web
By Harold Maass Published
-
Who is Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who dined with Trump and Kanye?
Speed Read From Charlottesville to Mar-a-Lago in just five years
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Jury convicts Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy in landmark Jan. 6 verdict
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published