(The Center Square) — Harriet Hageman won Wyoming’s Republican primary election Tuesday, unseating incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney.
As of 6:30 a.m. MDT Wednesday with about 90% of votes counted, Hageman had 66% of the vote, while Cheney had about 29%.
The race pitted the Trump-backed Hageman, an attorney who formerly ran for governor, against the three-term congresswoman, a frequent Trump critic who’s played a key role on Congress’ Jan. 6 committee. Cheney also voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. She was subsequently removed as House Republican Conference chair.
In a concession speech late Tuesday, Cheney pledged that “the work is far from over.”
“This primary election is over, but now the real work begins,” she said, noting President Abraham Lincoln’s electoral losses before being elected president.
Hageman said in a victory speech that “Wyoming has spoken on behalf of everyone who understands that our government is a government of, by and for the people.”
In the weeks leading up to election night, one poll had Hageman with a nearly 30-point lead among likely GOP primary voters.
Cheney worked in the State Department during the Bush administration before running for one of Wyoming’s U.S. Senate seats in 2014, in which she lost the Republican nomination. She then won the state’s at-large congressional seat in 2016.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney made a rare appearance in an election ad endorsing his daughter.
“There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office, and she will succeed,” the former vice president said.