Cheney outraises challengers in initial fundraising for 2022 primary election

Apr. 18—CHEYENNE — With more than a year left until Wyoming's 2022 primary election, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., reported a strong start to her campaign's fundraising efforts last week, accruing roughly $1.5 million in contributions over the first quarter of 2021 and outraising the challengers that have emerged since her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.

The $1.54 million raised in the first quarter by Cheney, who has held Wyoming's sole House seat since 2017, reflects a higher quarterly amount than any she has reported during the past three elections, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Her campaign closed the first quarter of 2021 with roughly $1.43 million in cash on hand.

While Cheney had an impressive start to this election cycle, a pair of her competitors, led by state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, also had noteworthy starts to their fundraising efforts.

Bouchard, who was the first to announce his campaign against Cheney following her impeachment vote of Trump in January, raised roughly $334,000 in the first quarter, with about $164,000 in cash on hand heading into April, according to his FEC report filed last week.

In a release last week, Bouchard's campaign touted the fundraising marks, and the state senator, who was first elected to the Wyoming Legislature in 2016, argued he should be the main candidate to take on Cheney.

"No other challenger has the massive grass-roots base we put together by announcing early and moving quickly, and no other candidate against Cheney has the strong six-figure cash-on-hand number we currently have," Bouchard said in a statement. "Others considering this race should look at joining my campaign now rather than splitting the anti-Cheney vote — exactly what our enemies want. Right now, there's only one candidate against Cheney who is taking this campaign seriously and that's me."

Bouchard's campaign also stated he had received contributions from donors in all 50 states, with about two-thirds of his donors giving smaller amounts below $200.

Another state lawmaker running against the incumbent congresswoman, Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, trailed both Cheney and Bouchard in first-quarter fundraising. Gray reported roughly $173,000 in contributions, with about $133,000 of that coming from his own pocket and another $5,800 coming from his father.

With over a year remaining until the state's primary election in 2022, the dynamics of the race could still change in the coming months. Last week, Trump issued a statement suggesting he will be backing a candidate in the race in the near future.

"... so many people are looking to run against Crazy Liz Cheney — but we only want one," Trump said in the statement. "She is so far down in Wyoming polls that the only way she can win is numerous candidates running against her and splitting the vote. Hopefully, that won't happen. I'll make an Endorsement soon!"

His statement came shortly after Cheney, who has repeatedly condemned the former president's role in inciting a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, told Fox News' Neil Cavuto that she would not support Trump if he was the GOP nominee for president in 2024.

"I've been very clear about my views of what happened on Jan. 6, about my views of the president's culpability," Cheney said in the interview. "I obviously voted to impeach him. I think that it was the gravest violation of an oath of office by any president in American history, and I'm going to continue to make sure people understand that."

Cheney, the third-ranking GOP member in the House, has also repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden since he took office in January, bashing his policies on everything from foreign policy to immigration to gun regulations.

Tom Coulter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. He can be reached at tcoulter@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3124. Follow him on Twitter at @tomcoulter_.