State Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, will challenge U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in the 2022 primary election.
Bouchard filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday. He has been a member of the Wyoming Legislature for four years.
“I expect Never Trumpers to do this stuff and CNN to play along. But Cheney should be run out of town, and back to Virginia for joining the blame game!” Bouchard wrote on his Facebook page earlier this month after Cheney voted to impeach President Donald Trump.
Bouchard is the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring to challenge Cheney in the next primary election. She has represented Wyoming in the House of Representatives since 2017.
The announcement comes after the Wyoming Republican Party, of which Bouchard is a member, criticized Cheney for her vote to impeach Trump last week.
“Representative Cheney has aligned herself with leftists who are screaming that what happened last Wednesday is the ‘worst thing ever in our history’ (or similar such claims). That is absurd and shows their lack of knowledge of history as well as their willingness to skew the facts to further their corrupt agenda,” the GOP said in a statement.
Cheney, the third highest-ranking Republican in the U.S. House, was one of 10 Republicans who cast a vote for Trump’s impeachment.
Speaking with Wyoming reporters following the historic vote, Cheney dismissed a question about her political future stating that there are moments when leaders have to put aside politics.
“There are times when those of us as elected officials are called on to act in a way that does not take politics into consideration,” she said. “Dealing with something as serious and as grave as the attack on the Capitol is one of those times.”
Earlier in the day Cheney told reporters that she was not concerned with calls from some House Freedom Caucus Republicans calling for her resignation.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
That thought was echoed by rising Republican star Rep. Dan Crenshaw who signaled his support of Cheney shortly after the two cast opposite votes.
“Let’s get some truth on the record: @Liz_Cheney has a hell of a lot more backbone than most, & is a principled leader with a fierce intellect. She will continue to be a much needed leader in the conference, with my full support. We can disagree without tearing eachother apart,” he tweeted.
The Wyoming Gun Owners Association, which has supported Bouchard in the past, also criticized Cheney’s vote.
“Its (sic) a statewide embarrassment that our only voice in the House of Representatives, Liberal Liz, is included in this list of hyper moderates! What a joke….” the group wrote on its social media account, linking to a story from the New York Times that had a list of Congressional Republicans voting to impeach the president.
Bouchard was recently elected to his third term in the Legislature after being challenged by Democrat Brittany Wallesch.
