Victoria Eavis staff photo
Rep. Liz Cheney has become the No. 1 enemy of former President Donald Trump, and now the candidate who is shaping up to possibly be her biggest competitor, Harriet Hageman, has his endorsement.
Next year’s House contest will be a midterm election, meaning that it falls at the midpoint of the sitting president’s term. That fact has the potential to affect the outcome.
“These midterms are normally a referendum on the incumbent president,” said Jim King, a professor of political science at the University of Wyoming, adding this time might be different. “The people of Wyoming are trying to make it a referendum on an ex-president.”
King could turn out to be right, but there are even more factors that could affect who wins.
Cheney, who first won her seat in 2016, has a long legislative record in Wyoming, whereas Hageman does not have one at all. (Hageman is a lawyer, and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.) On paper, this should work to Cheney’s advantage, as it often does for incumbents. But Cheney is a different type of incumbent — she has become more known lately for her repeated breaks from her party than she is for her legislative history.
Hageman is taking advantage of that reality. For one, Hageman has already sought to paint Cheney as cozy with Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times, despite Hageman only joining the race a couple days ago.
