Mudslinging has moved into full gear in the U.S. House race between Harriet Hageman and Rep. Liz Cheney, with both campaigns releasing a new onslaught of campaign ads this week.
The ads paid for by a Hageman super political action committee say Cheney has forgotten about Wyoming issues, while Cheney’s accuse Hageman of making statements just to get elected.
On Tuesday, Wyoming Values, a super political action committee working independently from but in support of Hageman, released an ad blitz that will run through the primary election.
According to Fox News, Wyoming Values paid around $500,000 for the ads that will run over the next three weeks until the Aug. 16 primary.
Wyoming Values’ ad “FedUp” harkens back to state roots, with the narrator claiming, “Liz Cheney left behind Wyoming and our conservative values a long time ago.”
“It’s time for a change. Harriet Hageman is of Wyoming, from Wyoming, and for Wyoming,” said the gravelly-toned male narrator.
Hageman is a native Wyoming resident and has spent most of her life in the state, aside from her regional and national-level work as a land and water attorney. She is still listed as senior counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based New Civil Liberties Alliance.
A clip from Hageman’s “Fed Up” speech is shown during the ad, which she presented during a “Save Wyoming” rally she held with former President Donald Trump in Casper in May.
Cheney has opposed Trump publicly since the 2020 election, for his attempt to overturn the results of that election and his alleged role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
“We’re fed up with (President) Joe Biden, (Speaker of the House Rep.) Nancy Pelosi,” Hageman says. “We’re fed up with inflation and we’re fed up with Liz Cheney.”
Hageman gave a new iteration of this speech during a rally held in Lander last weekend.
The Cheney team released an ad titled “Serious” on her behalf Wednesday morning, criticizing Hageman and other U.S. House opponents for comments they made about the 2020 election.
The comments were taken from a debate held in Sheridan in May.
“We have serious questions about the 2020 election,” Hageman says in the ad, followed by a loud buzzer noise.
This buzzer was played for the comments Robyn Bellinskey and Anthony Bouchard also gave on the topic.
The ad finishes out with Cheney’s perspective on the topic.
“We’ve got to elect serious leaders, we’ve got to elect leaders who will take their oath of office seriously,” she said. “We’ve got to elect leaders who won’t simply say what people want to hear.”
A chime plays after this comment, indicating she gave the correct answer.
As of 11:05 a.m. Wednesday, the commercial had 1,709 views on Youtube. Hageman’s ad had 2,190 views on Youtube after being posted Monday.
Jeremy Adler, a spokesman for Cheney, said the commercial will run statewide Wednesday. He would not say how much it cost for the ad-buy. Another anti-Hageman ad premiered over the weekend, paid for by a Washington, D.C.-based super PAC.