‘Wicked Witch of the West’ who came back to haunt Liz Cheney

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She has been a fierce critic of Liz Cheney throughout their battle to win the Republican primary in Wyoming.

But Harriet Hageman and former Vice President Dick’s daughter were once close allies and even billed themselves as ‘friends’.

The state’s new House representative worked on her now rival’s US Senate campaign in 2014 and introduced her on stage as a ‘proven, courageous conservative’.

Yet their relationship appears to have soured in recent years, with the former launching numerous tirades against her competitor over the last few weeks.

Hageman herself has seen her fair share of criticism, being branded the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ for often appearing in all black outfits.

Meanwhile the 59-year-old has been repeatedly targeted for her climate change denial stance as well as her loyalty to former president Donald Trump.

But it appeared not to bother voters in Wyoming on Tuesday night as she came up trumps against Cheney in the fiercely-contested primary.

The ousted congresswoman was already looking ahead to a political future beyond Capitol Hill that could include a 2024 presidential run.

Harriet Hageman (center) talks to supporters at a campaign event in early March, alongside Republican Sen. Rand Paul (right)

Harriet Hageman (center) talks to supporters at a campaign event in early March, alongside Republican Sen. Rand Paul (right) 

Harriet Hageman (right) campaigns alongside Donald Trump Jr. (left) in June in Jackson, Wyoming

Harriet Hageman (right) campaigns alongside Donald Trump Jr. (left) in June in Jackson, Wyoming

Harriet Hageman (right) campaigns alongside Donald Trump Jr. (left) in June in Jackson, Wyoming 

Hageman was born into a farming background and grew up on a ranch near Fort Laramie in Wyoming.

She went got her bachelor of science in business administration in 1986 and a juris doctor from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1989.

She worked in the private sector in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado over the next few years and served as a law clerk and federal appeals judge.

Her specialism is natural resources and she went on to co-found Wyoming Conservative Alliance in 2004.

They reportedly sought to ‘increase public participation at both the state and federal regulatory level’.

In more recent years Hageman has embraced Trump’s election claims. It’s a different version of her from in 2016 when she supported Cheney – who was running for the House for the first time – and was actively working against Trump.

Hageman went to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland as a delegate for Cruz and was part of a group of Republicans who wanted to ‘unbind’ delegates in a last-ditch effort for Trump to lose the nomination.

The effort didn’t work and when The New York Times highlighted Hageman’s participation in it in September 2021, she said she had been fooled.

‘I heard and believed the lies the Democrats and Liz Cheney’s friends in the media were telling at the time, but that is ancient history as I quickly realized that their allegations against President Trump were untrue,’ she told the paper.

‘He was the greatest president of my lifetime, and I am proud to have been able to renominate him in 2020. And I’m proud to strongly support him today,’ the House hopeful added.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Tuesday night that she called and conceded the Wyoming primary race to the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Tuesday night that she called and conceded the Wyoming primary race to the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Tuesday night that she called and conceded the Wyoming primary race to the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman

Mary Fichtner, Hageman's college best friend who has volunteered with the campaign, holds a poster during the primary election night party of the GOP winner

Mary Fichtner, Hageman's college best friend who has volunteered with the campaign, holds a poster during the primary election night party of the GOP winner

Mary Fichtner, Hageman’s college best friend who has volunteered with the campaign, holds a poster during the primary election night party of the GOP winner 

After winning the vote tonight, Hageman supporters gathered at a rodeo and Western culture festival in Cheyenne, many wearing cowboy boots.

‘Obviously we´re all very grateful to President Trump, who recognizes that Wyoming has only one congressional representative and we have to make it count,’ she said.

The results were a powerful reminder of the GOP´s rapid shift to the right. A party once dominated by national security-oriented, business-friendly conservatives like her father now belongs to Trump, animated by his populist appeal and, above all, his denial of defeat in the 2020 election.

Echoing Trump, Hageman, a ranching industry attorney, falsely claimed the 2020 election was ‘rigged’ as she courted Trump loyalists.

Such lies, which have been roundly rejected by federal and state election officials along with Trump´s own attorney general and judges he appointed, transformed Cheney from an occasional critic of the former president to the clearest voice inside the GOP warning that he represents a threat to democratic norms.

Trump and his team celebrated Cheney´s loss from afar, having spent much of the day railing against the FBI on social media. Just eight days earlier, federal agents executing a search warrant recovered 11 sets of classified records from his Florida state.

Trump called Cheney´s loss ‘a complete rebuke’ of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Cheney is the panel’s vice chair.

Rep. Liz Cheney spoke to supporters outside Tuesday night at the Mead Ranch in Jackson, Wyoming

Rep. Liz Cheney spoke to supporters outside Tuesday night at the Mead Ranch in Jackson, Wyoming

Rep. Liz Cheney spoke to supporters outside Tuesday night at the Mead Ranch in Jackson, Wyoming 

Rep. Liz Cheney's parents Lynne Cheney (left) and former Vice President Dick Cheney (right) sat in the audience as she delivered her concession speech

Rep. Liz Cheney's parents Lynne Cheney (left) and former Vice President Dick Cheney (right) sat in the audience as she delivered her concession speech

Rep. Liz Cheney’s parents Lynne Cheney (left) and former Vice President Dick Cheney (right) sat in the audience as she delivered her concession speech 

‘Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others,’ he wrote on his social media platform. ‘Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!’

Cheney´s defeat would have been unthinkable just two years ago. The daughter of a former vice president, she hails from one of the most prominent political families in Wyoming. And in Washington, she was the No. 3 House Republican, an influential voice in GOP politics and policy with a sterling conservative voting record.

But after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Cheney voted to impeach Trump and made it her primary mission to ensure he never again serves in the Oval Office. She pushed past GOP censures and death threats to serve as a leader on the congressional panel investigating Trump´s role in the insurrection.

Cheney will now be forced from Congress at the end of her third and final term in January. She is not expected to leave Capitol Hill quietly.

She will continue in her leadership role on the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack until it dissolves at the end of the year. And she is actively considering a 2024 White House bid — as a Republican or independent — having vowed to do everything in her power to fight Trump´s influence in her party.

Tuesday´s primary contests in Wyoming and, to a lesser extent, Alaska demonstrated the enduring strength of Trump and his brand of hard-line politics ahead of the November midterm elections. So far, the former president has helped install loyalists who parrot his conspiracy theories in general election matchups from Pennsylvania to Arizona.

In Alaska, another Trump ally, former Gov. Sarah Palin, hoped to step into the national spotlight Tuesday as well.

The 58-year-old 2008 vice presidential nominee was actually on the ballot twice: once in a special election to complete former Rep. Don Young´s term and another for a full two-year House term starting in January.

On the other side of the GOP´s tent, a periodic Trump critic, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, had an opportunity to survive the former president´s ire, even after voting to convict him in his second impeachment trial. The top four Senate candidates in Alaska, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election, where voters will rank them in order of preference.

With Cheney´s loss, Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are going extinct.

In all, seven Republican senators and 10 Republican House members backed Trump´s impeachment in the days after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress tried to certify President Joe Biden´s victory. Just two of those 10 House members have won their primaries this year. After two Senate retirements, Murkowski remains the only such Senate Republican on this year´s ballot.

In Wyoming, Cheney had been forced to seek assistance from the state´s tiny Democratic minority. But Democrats across America, major donors among them, took notice. She raised at least $15 million for her election, a stunning figure for a Wyoming political contest.

But the makeup of Wyoming´s deeply Republican electorate was too much to overcome. As of Aug. 1, 2022, there were 285,000 registered voters in Wyoming, including 40,000 Democrats and 208,000 Republicans. Trump earned nearly 70% of the vote in 2016 and 2020.

If Cheney does ultimately run for president – either as a Republican or an independent – don´t expect her to win Wyoming´s three electoral votes.

‘We like Trump. She tried to impeach Trump,’ Cheyenne voter Chester Barkell said of Cheney on Tuesday. ‘I don´t trust Liz Cheney.’

And in Jackson, Republican voter Dan Winder said he felt betrayed by his congresswoman.

‘Over 70% of the state of Wyoming voted Republican in the last presidential election and she turned right around and voted against us,’ said Winder, a hotel manager. ‘She was our representative, not her own.’

There was no sign that the FBI´s recent search of Trump´s Florida estate played any role in Tuesday´s elections.

Just last week, federal agents seized several sets of classified materials from Trump´s home, including some marked ‘sensitive compartmented information,’ a special category meant to protect the nation´s most important secrets. Republicans across the country initially rallied behind the former president, although the reaction turned somewhat mixed as more details emerged.

Anti-Trump Republicans across the country cheered Cheney´s willingness to challenge Trump even as they expressed disappointment in her loss.

‘What´s remarkable is that in the face of almost certain defeat she´s never once wavered,’ said Sarah Longwell, executive director of the Republican Accountability Project. ‘We´ve been watching a national American figure be forged. It´s funny how small the election feels – the Wyoming election – because she feels bigger than it now.’