Liz Cheney forms new political group, ponders a presidential bid

After being roundly defeated in her Wyoming Republican primary, Liz Cheney says she will now focus on stopping Donald Trump from holding a powerful government office again.

Republican Liz Cheney lost her US Congress seat to an election-denying conspiracy theorist, in the latest signal of her party's disavowal of traditional conservatism in favour of Donald Trump's hardline "America First" movement.

After being roundly defeated in her Wyoming Republican primary, Representative Liz Cheney says she will now focus on stopping former president Donald Trump from holding a powerful government office again.

The three-term incumbent and daughter of a former Republican vice-president was defeated Tuesday night by Harriet Hageman, a water and natural resources attorney who was endorsed by Mr Trump. Ms Hageman campaigned on a message that Ms Cheney had become too critical of Mr Trump and was ignoring the interests of her Wyoming constituents.

“I believe that Donald Trump continues to pose a very grave threat and risk to our republic,” Ms Cheney said on NBC’s Today Show on Wednesday. “Defeating him is going to require a broad and united front of Republicans, Democrats and independents, and that’s what I intend to be a part of.” Hours after her loss, Ms Cheney filed with the Federal Election Commission to transfer remaining cash from her federal campaign account to a new political-action committee. At the end of July, she had more than $US7 million cash on hand, according to FEC filings. Her new leadership PAC is called “The Great Task,” a reference to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, in which he said the task was to save the US from a bloody and seemingly unending war.

The FEC filing was partly procedural because Ms Cheney is no longer an active candidate and needed a new entity to accept donations.

Ms Cheney will continue to serve until January 2023, when the new congress convenes, and as the co-chairwoman of the special House committee investigating events leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and Mr Trump’s role in them. The assault came as congress was certifying President Joe Biden’s victory over the former president.

In the coming weeks, she is expected to launch a political organisation to continue her work, said a person familiar with her plans. She is expected to manage it independently and not partner with any outside groups that are also working to block a successful presidential bid by Mr Trump.

Ms Cheney said she is contemplating running for president herself, to provide an option to Republicans opposed to Mr Trump, who is considering a presidential run. She said on NBC that “it’s something that I’m thinking about.” She said she is focused on getting the Republican Party, in which her family has long been a leading player, “back to a place where we’re embracing the values and the principles on which it was founded.” If Ms Cheney were to run as a Republican, she would likely face some strong headwinds in Iowa, a state that has shown significant loyalty to Mr Trump and where the party is expected to start its 2024 nomination race.

Carmine Boal, a GOP activist in Iowa who is a former state representative, expressed skepticism of Ms. Cheney’s prospects as a potential GOP presidential candidate in her state. “She would be coolly received here because she’s been such an antagonist,” she said.

Bob Vander Plaats, president of Family Leader, a Christian conservative group based in Iowa, said Mr Trump should think soberly about whether he even wants to get into the 2024 race knowing his presence might be more likely to encourage Ms Cheney to run as an independent. Mr Vander Plaats said that could threaten the GOP’s prospects the way the businessman Ross Perot did in a 1992 election that ended in victory for Democrat Bill Clinton.

“There is a Ross Perot moment brewing, and if it comes to fruition, Donald Trump will lose the 2024 presidential election,” Mr Vander Plaats said in a statement.

“Should Trump choose to run, he will be running uphill against the Democratic nominee and an independent torpedo named Liz Cheney.”

Ms Cheney’s primary wasn’t close. Ms Hageman won 66.3 per cent of the vote to Ms Cheney’s 28.9 per cent, with 95 per cent of all votes counted.

The Wyoming lawmaker’s focus on the January 6 investigative committee and Mr Trump was viewed unfavourably in Wyoming, which backed the former president by the highest margin of any state in 2020. In her victory speech, Ms Hageman, who is expected to win the House seat in the November general election, said “we can dislodge entrenched politicians who believe they’ve risen above the people they’re supposed to represent and serve”.

The Wall Street Journal