Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney announces bid for re-election, faces steep opposition from party leadership

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Republican Rep. Liz Cheney officially filed to run for reelection on Thursday, as she seeks a fourth two-year term representing Wyoming's at-large House seat.

Cheney's announcement came one day before Wyoming's filing deadline for candidates to place their name on the ballot. 

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And it also came two days before former President Donald Trump heads to Wyoming to headline a rally on Saturday on behalf of Harriet Hagemen, who with Trump's endorsement and support is challenging Cheney in the state's August 16 primary.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., right, after being ousted from her leadership role in the House Republican Conference at US Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.  (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

"I’m running for re-election and asking for your vote because this is a fight we must win," the congresswoman said in a Tweet and in a video announcement.

"In Wyoming, we know what it means to ride for the brand. We live in the greatest nation God has ever created, and our brand is the U.S. Constitution," Cheney emphasized.

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The news was first reported by the Casper Star-Tribune.

Cheney, a longtime vocal GOP Trump critic, was the most senior of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the then-president on a charge of inciting the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The attack was waged by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.

Cheney, a conservative lawmaker and defense hawk who is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, immediately came under verbal attack from Trump and his allies, and a year ago she was ousted from her number-three House GOP leadership position.

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Cheney, who has been very vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation's democratic process and of putting country before party, is one of only two Republicans serving on a special select committee organized by House Democrats to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Trump, stepping up his efforts to oust Cheney from Congress, endorsed Hageman as she entered the race late last summer. And the former president and his allies successfully urged some, but not all, of the other anti-Cheney candidates to drop out of the primary and coalesce around Hageman. The highest-profile of those staying in the race is state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a strong supporter of the former president.

Republican congressional candidate Harriet Hageman speaks with voters at an Albany County GOP breakfast in Laramie, Wyoming, on Jan. 8, 2022 (Harriet Hageman congressional campaign)

The Republican National Committee in February, in a push by Trump allies, censured Cheney over her role on the Jan. 6 committee. Defending herself, the congresswoman said at the time, "I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump."

Cheney caught a break in March when the Wyoming legislature decided against scrapping same-day party registration in primaries, which would have prevented Democrats from crossing party lines and registering as Republicans to vote for Cheney in the state’s primary. The move by Wyoming’s legislature was seen as a defeat for Trump and his allies, who pushed to end same-day party registration.

Trump's rally in Wyoming will precede a month when Cheney is expected to grab plenty of media attention, as the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol is scheduled to hold at least eight hearings in June.

House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol members Vice-chairperson Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) listen as Chairperson Bennie Thompson (D-MS) speaks, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz (Reuters )

Trump's repeated attacks on Cheney have fueled her fundraising.

Cheney hauled in $2.94 million in the January-March first quarter of 2022 fundraising. And the congresswoman reported holding a formidable $6.8 million cash on hand in her campaign coffers as of the end of March. 

Hageman announced that she brought in roughly over $1.3 million during the first quarter, according to figures shared first with Fox News. Hageman reported just over $1 million cash on hand.

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Some of Hageman's first quarter haul came from a fundraiser in the nation’s capital headlined by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.

McCarthy is one of dozens of House Republicans who are backing Hageman in her push to oust Cheney.

Fox News' Kelly Phares contributed to this report.