ANALYSIS: Liz Cheney for President? Defeated rep eyes off presidential race after primary loss

Ex-President Donald Trump & Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have already been seen as frontrunners in the 2024 race.

US Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) has suggested that she may run for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2024, after losing her House of Representatives primary on 16 August, local time.

In a state loyal to Donald Trump, indeed his safest state in the 2020 election, the outspoken daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney faced an uphill battle against Harriet Hageman, who had received Trump’s endorsement.

Wyoming has the lowest population density of any US state, and is the only state to have more Senators (2) than members of the House of Representatives (1).

Although both women were once critics of Donald Trump, Hageman made the politically expedient decision to accept the former President’s endorsement. This is a marked shift from her stance in 2016, when she supported Republican Senator Ted Cruz in the presidential primary, which Trump ultimately won. She has since claimed to have regretted her opposition to Trump.

In contrast, Cheney has continued to be one of Trump’s fiercest opponents in the party, as one of only 10 Republican members of the House of Representatives to vote for his impeachment and a leading figure on the House January 6th Committee.

For many, it was not a surprise when Hageman defeated Cheney in the Wyoming Republican primary, with Hageman receiving 66.3% of the vote, just shy of two-thirds of all registered Republican voters in the district. In contrast, Cheney received 28.9% of the vote and carried only two of the twenty-three counties in the district.

After conceding, Cheney told NBC News that she will consider running for US presidential nomination in 2024, though she has not decided for certain yet.

Given the result in the Wyoming primary, it is unlikely that Cheney would win the nomination, but she may be able to help unite anti-Trump Republicans and the Democrats against Trump in 2024, ensuring that he does not win the presidential election.

Stuart Jeffery is a freelance researcher & digital editor for 6 News. His views on personal social media pages are his & his only, and do not reflect the views of 6 News or our journalists. He abides by 6 News' editorial standards relating to fairness & accuracy.

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