Wyoming State Lawmaker to Challenge Rep. Liz Cheney in 2022 GOP Primary

House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington in this May 8, 2019, file photo. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters, File Photo

A Wyoming state lawmaker announced he will challenge Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 Republican in the House, during the 2022 GOP primary for her seat.

Wyoming state Rep. Chuck Gray, a Republican, made the announcement on social media.

“It’s time for a leader who actually listens to the hard-working people of Wyoming, and not to the D.C elitists,” he wrote in a tweet. “Join me on my journey as I seek the Republican nomination for the United States Congress.”

In his announcement, Gray criticized Cheney after she joined House Democrats in impeaching former President Donald Trump in January. Following her vote, several Republican lawmakers, Trump surrogates, and the former president himself suggested she be primaried.

“It is abundantly clear to those of us who actually live in Wyoming that Liz Cheney views her positions as nothing more than a stepping stone, and we’re just supposed to go along with it. Well, not anymore. Wyoming agrees with President Trump ... it is time to get rid of Liz Cheney,” Gray said in a statement. “My proven record of leadership for the people of Wyoming is the polar opposite of hers, and it is why I am proud to announce my intent to seek the Republican Party’s nomination to serve the citizens of Wyoming in the United States House of Representatives.”

Gray, meanwhile, has called for either her resignation or her to be censured.

Cheney said on Jan. 12 that she voted to impeach Trump because he allegedly “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack” on Jan. 6 during the Joint Session of Congress. “Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President.”

In remarks to reporters last month, Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, clashed with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) about Trump’s status in the Republican Party. While McCarthy said Trump should give remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Cheney disagreed, saying, “I don’t believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.”

Trump, during his Sunday speech, named all the Republicans who either voted to impeach or convict him, ending with Cheney. “Hopefully they’ll get rid of her,” he said. “Get rid of them all.”

“I will be actively working to elect strong, tough, and smart Republican leaders,” Trump declared. “RINOs will destroy the Republican Party … and the American workers,” he also told the crowd, using the acronym for “Republicans in Name Only,” a pejorative used for Republican elected officials who are believed to govern and legislate like Democrats.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Cheney’s office for comment.