Liz Cheney Says She Won't Run for Senate in Wyoming

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January 16, 2020 10:12 PM

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House, said Thursday that she would not seek the Senate seat being vacated by Michael B. Enzi, choosing instead to focus on her reelection campaign.

Liz Cheney Says She Won't Run for Senate in Wyoming

The announcement, which was first reported by The Casper Star Tribune, ended speculation that Cheney — chairwoman of the House Republican Conference and a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney — would give up her place in House leadership to join a competitive primary for the Senate seat. She had run for the seat in 2014 but withdrew from the race.

Cheney confirmed the news in a statement posted on Twitter, in which she also attacked House Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying that they “are threatening our freedom and our Wyoming values every day” and “must be stopped.”

“Our nation is facing grave security challenges overseas and the House Democrats are working to weaken our president and embolden our enemies,” she said. “I believe I can have the biggest impact for the people of Wyoming by remaining in leadership in the House of Representatives.”

A lawyer and former State Department official who was also a pundit for Fox News, Cheney, 53, ran to oust Enzi in 2014 after moving from suburban Washington to Wyoming, where she had not lived for decades. Cheney was accused of being a carpetbagger, and her primary campaign against Enzi, a popular incumbent, divided Republicans in the state.

Her candidacy also caused a rift within her family; she spoke out against same-sex marriage during her campaign, angering her sister, Mary Cheney, and her wife, Heather Poe.

Cheney eventually withdrew from the race. But two years later, in 2016, she ran for and won Rep. Cynthia Lummis’ seat following her retirement from the House. Lummis is one of several Republican candidates for Enzi’s seat.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .

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