Wyoming lawmaker announces challenge to Cheney for re-election in 2022

The Carbon County (Wyoming) Republican Party unanimously passed a condemnation of Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) vote in favor of impeaching President Trump on Jan. 16. Photo shows Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) speaking at a news conference in Washington, DC on Dec. 10, 2020.

A Wyoming congressman announced Thursday (March 4) that he will challenge House No. 3 Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for her seat in the 2022 Republican primary.

State Rep. Chuck Gray (R) of Wyoming first made the announcement on social media.

“It’s Time for a leader who actually listens to the hardworking people of Wyoming, not the elitists in Washington, D.C. (to serve in the House),” Gray wrote in a tweet. “Please walk with me as I seek the Republican Party nomination for the U.S. Congress.”

In her statement, Gray criticized Cheney’s position. She joined House Democrats and together to impeach former President Donald Trump (R-Texas) in January, despite public opposition. Since then, several Republican lawmakers, Trump surrogates and Trump himself have said they seek to challenge Cheney for re-election in the 2022 midterm elections.

“Those of us who actually live in Wyoming are very aware that Cheney thinks her position is a stepping stone and that we should go along with it. But that’s not the case now. Wyoming agrees with President Trump. …… It’s time to get rid of Cheney,” Gray said in a statement. “My record of leadership for the people of Wyoming is diametrically opposed to hers, which is why I am proud to announce my intention to seek the Republican nomination to serve the citizens of Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Meanwhile, Gray has called for Cheney’s resignation or censure of her.

Cheney said Jan. 12 that she voted to impeach Trump because he “called the mob, deployed the mob, lit this fire of attack” during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, and that “everything after that was his doing. Without the president, none of this would have happened”.

Cheney again expressed two different views on Trump’s standing in the Republican Party at the same time with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy at a press conference in February. McCarthy said Trump should speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), but Cheney disagreed, saying, “I don’t think he should have a role in the future of the party and the country.”

In his CPAC speech on Sunday (28), Trump named all the Republicans who voted to impeach or convict him, with Cheney among them, in the hope that someone would replace them during the midterm.

“I will work aggressively to (engage) to elect tough and wise Republican leaders,” Trump declared. He added, “The so-called Republicans (RINOs) will destroy the Republican Party …… and the American worker.”