Most of the Republican candidates for Wyoming’s congressional seat appeared at a forum in Casper over the weekend, but incumbent U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and challenger state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, were not among them.
A spokeswoman for Bouchard’s campaign said there was “no way” he would attend because he leads all of Cheney’s challengers.
The forum was hosted by the conservative political action committee America First, which is led by politician K.W. Miller, and the Cowboy State Politics podcast on Saturday at the Ramkota hotel in Casper. Candidates were questioned about their stances on various policies and issues affecting both Wyoming and the United States.
Six of the eight candidates appeared at the forum, with Cheney and Bouchard being invited but choosing not to participate.
“Mark my words: any candidate that is not in the room tonight is not getting elected in 2022,” Miller said during the forum.
According to Bouchard’s spokeswoman, April Poley, there was no need for the senator to appear at the forum.
“Anthony is way out in the lead. He has no reason to attend a forum right now or any other event that involves his opponents,” Poley wrote on social media over the weekend.
She called Miller a conspiracy theorist and failed politician who only got 2.2% of the vote in the general Florida election last fall when he ran for Congress.
“He has repeatedly attacked Anthony Bouchard and the campaign, but Anthony was expected to say, ‘yes sir, right away sir’ when K.W. the narcissist told him he needed to attend his forum?” Poley said. “You can call Anthony many things but ‘butt kisser’ is not one of them. There was absolutely no way Anthony was going to show up for something involving K.W. Miller.”
Miller made headlines last year for a conspiracy theory he floated about the singer Beyonce Knowles, claiming she is not Black.
Bouchard said he has now raised more than $500,000 for his campaign against Cheney. His last official Federal Election Commission filing on March 31 put his fundraising at $334,541. According to Cheney’s FEC filing, she had raised $1.5 million by March 31.
Cheney made no mention of the forum on any of her social media accounts this weekend.
Many of Cheney’s opponents at the forum noted they were running against her due to her being “out of touch” with Wyoming voters.
This was also the reason stated by Bouchard and state Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, earlier this year for their decisions to run against Cheney. Cheney’s vote to impeach former President Donald Trump also figured into thier decisions, they said.
