The elected Republican Liz Cheney, who has embarked on a methodical battle against Donald Trump, is preparing except surprise to suffer a crushing defeat Tuesday in Wyoming, a state firmly anchored on the right where a candidate supported by the former president is given largely victorious.
According to the polls, Harriet Hageman leads Liz Cheney by about 20 points in the race for the Republican nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives. A recent survey by the University of Wyoming even places its lead at almost 30 points.
Ms. Cheney, 56, has been one of the Republican billionaire’s main pet peeves since she dared to join the House committee investigating her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney even co-chairs this group of elected officials, for whom Donald Trump “failed in his duty” during the attack led by his supporters to try to prevent the certification of the victory of the Democrat Joe Biden running for president in 2020.
In response, the 45th President of the United States multiplied the attacks against Ms. Cheney, accusing her of being “disloyal and warmongering” and calling her a “failed lesson giver”. He threw his weight behind his rival Harriet Hageman, a 59-year-old lawyer who grew up on a ranch and who he went to campaign with in late May.
In a state that voted more than 70% for Donald Trump in the last presidential election, Harriet Hageman supports in particular the theory conveyed by the Trump clan according to which the 2020 election was “stolen” from the former president, despite countless evidence to the contrary.
Death threats
For her part, Liz Cheney, who voted for the dismissal from which the tycoon finally escaped, has been trying for more than a year to dismantle this thesis to which millions of Trumpists still adhere.
Since she is investigating Donald Trump and his entourage, the elected official has been targeted by a series of death threats and no longer travels without a police escort. She was therefore forced to carry out a kind of shadow campaign, without electoral rallies or public events.
This blonde woman with glasses, heiress of a very traditionalist, pro-gun and anti-abortion right, was excommunicated by the Republican Party of Wyoming, whose leader himself participated in the demonstrations on the day of the Capitol assault.
“No matter how long we have to fight, this is a battle we will win. Millions of Americans across our country — Republicans, Democrats, Independents — are united for freedom,” Liz Cheney said in a video message released ahead of the weekend.
“We are stronger, more dedicated and more determined than those who try to destroy our republic. This is our great mission and we will win,” she said.
What future in case of defeat for the one who promised to do everything so that Donald Trump never approaches the Oval Office again? Rumors lend her presidential ambitions for the 2024 election, in which she could run as an independent if necessary.
Elections are also taking place in Alaska, where the candidacy for a seat in the House of Representatives of Sarah Palin, one of the very first figures of the populist and anti-elite movement which Donald Trump has championed, is dividing.
Many voters indeed blame Ms. Palin, who campaigned in 2008 alongside Republican John McCain to become vice-president of the United States, for having abandoned her mandate as governor of Alaska along the way in 2009.
A recent poll indicates that 60% of Alaskans have an unfavorable opinion of her.